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WOOL 

THE WORLD'S COMFORTER 




When You Look at This Machinery, a Very Small 

Part of That Used in a Woolen Mill, You Get an 

Idea op the Amount of Money It Takes to Swing 

a Textile Enterprise 



WOOL 

THE WORLD'S COMFORTER 



A SURVEY OF THE WOOL INDUSTRY FROM THE 
RAW MATERIAL TO THE FINISHED PRODUCT, 
INCLUDING DESCRIPTIONS OF MANU- 
FACTURING AND MARKETING 
METHODS AND A DICTION- 
ARY OF WOOL FABRICS 



By 



W. D. DARBY 



NEW YORK 
DRY GOODS ECONOMIST 

TWO THIRTY- NINE WEST THIRTY- N T I NTH STREET 
19 2 2 



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<£-$•» 



Copyright, 1922 
Dry Goods Economist 



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Federal Printing Co., New York 
1922 



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C1AG98682 <+$& \ A 



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CONTENTS 

PAGE 

An Introduction. By Ernest C. Hastings, Managing 
Editor, Dry Goods Economist 6 

Chapter I — History of Wool 7 

Chapter II — History of Wool Manufacture 15 

Chapter III — The Wool-Bearing Sheep 25 

Chapter IV — The World's Wool Production 33 

Chapter V — Classification and Marketing of Wool. . 40 

Chapter VI — Preparatory Manufacturing Processes . . 49 

Chapter VII — Spinning Woolen and Worsted Yarns.. 57 

Chapter VIII — The Weaving Processes 63 

Chapter IX — Dyeing and Finishing 72 

Chapter X — Manufacture and Use of Shoddy 80 

Chapter XI — Mohair, Alpaca and Other Fibers 87 

Chapter XII — Dictionary of Wool Fabrics 94 

Twelve Illustrations. 



Introduction 



IT is safe to say that, while wool is the oldest of all our textiles, the 
public knows less about it than about silk, cotton or linen. 

Folks realize in a general way that woolen fibers come from the 
backs of sheep, yet they have little or no conception of the vast difference 
that exists between wool as it comes from sheep in various parts of the 
world, for example. 

Most people think that wool suits or hats or socks are all alike, whereas 
there is often a very tremendous difference in those articles that may appear 
exactly alike. One may be of virgin wool and the other of wool that has 
been worked over many, many times. 

Wool is the one textile for which no substitute has been found. We 
have fibre silk and materials made of various fibres that answer the purpose 
of cotton or linen, but NO material has been discovered that will take the 
place of wool. 

So-called imitation wools may look, feel and appear like wool, but the 
body refuses to react to these in the same way it does to real wool. 

Selling or buying woolen materials or products of any kind involves 
more than the sale of just the item. What the buyer wants is comfort or 
protection. The salesman who fails to realize this is missing a big oppor- 
tunity. 

That all may know the properties and kinds and types of woolens the 
Dry Goods Economist has had prepared one of the most complete brief 
treatises on wool ever attempted. We doubt if any volume of its size gives 
in condensed form so much vital information about the oldest of our ma- 
terials. 

As is usual in Mr. Darby's writings, the book is free from technicalities 
so that it is easily understood by a layman. 

Whether you buy or sell woolens you'll get greater pleasure from the 
handling of them if you are familiar with the facts contained in this book. 

May the reading of it be a great pleasure. 

ERNEST C. HASTINGS, 

Managing Editor, 
Dry Goods Economist. 



WOOL 

THE WORLD'S COMFORTER 



Chapter I 
History of Wool 



IT is probable that wool was the first fiber used by man for clothing. 
It is certain that wool shares with flax the distinction of being the 

most ancient of the textile fibers; but the origin of both of them 
goes so far back into prehistoric times that it is impossible to say which 
came first. In the beginning men used skins to clothe their bodies, 
and sheepskins no doubt were used widely for this purpose by primi- 
tive peoples. As far as we know, the pastoral stage always has pre- 
ceded the agricultural stage in the development of civilization. Men 
lived nomadic lives and counted their wealth in flocks and herds for 
ages before they began to settle down and cultivate the earth. And 
unquestionably the woolly skins of sheep that died or were killed 
for food must have been deemed especially suitable for clothing. 

Just when men first began to shear off the wool and to spin and 
weave it into cloth is another matter. They must have done it cen- 
turies before the dawn of recorded history; because the very earliest 
legends make reference to the fleeces of sheep, and sheep originally 
did not possess the woolly fleece we so inevitably associate with them 
now. Sheep in the beginning were covered with hair, and the wool 
was merely a slight soft down next the skin. Apparently it occurred to 
some prehistoric shepherd that sheep could be made to ^row more 
of this wool by special breeding; and as a result of this experiment the 
woolly sheep was produced. It is very likely that the impetus to 
develop a woolly sheep came from previous experiments in spinning 
and weaving the fiber. That the production of wool for its own sake 

[7] 



8 Wool, the World's Comforter 

goes back to the most ancient times we may infer from such early 
myths as that of Jason and the Golden Fleece. 

Some idea of the antiquity of wool as a textile fiber may be 
gleaned from the fact that when the ruins of villages inhabited by the 
Swiss Lake Dwellers, in the Stone Age, were uncovered in 1853-54, 
fabrics made of wool were found there, and bodies wrapped in plaited 
woolen cloth have been found in the barrows of the early Britons. 
If we assume, as we plausibly may, that wool was used as a textile 
at a correspondingly early stage in the civilization of Asia, we can 
trace it back to the very childhood of mankind. Indeed Abel, the son 
of Adam, we are told, was a keeper of sheep, and whether we take 
the Bible literally or figuratively, this indication of the high antiquity 
of sheep raising is eloquent enough. 

That the ancient Israelites were great sheep ranchers is well 
known. And that they used the wool for making cloth is suggested 
by many references to sheep-shearing made in the Bible. (For ex- 
ample, Genesis 38: 13, and 31: 19; Deuteronomy 15: 19; 1 Samuel 25: 
4; 2 Kings, 3: 4.) Besides speaking frequently of the wool of sheep 
as a separate, valuable commodity, the Bible makes more direct refer- 
ences to its use as a textile fiber. The book of Proverbs, for example, 
says of the virtuous woman that she "seeketh wool and flax and worketh 
willingly with her hands." We find, too, that the priests were for- 
bidden to wear garments of mixed wool and linen. This prohibition 
was evidently borrowed from the Egyptians, who forbade the wearing 
of woolen clothing by their priests. 

Such a prohibition would indicate that woolen cloth was an article 
of such common use among the ancient Egyptians as not to be deemed 
suited for wear by the august servants of the gods; although one 
writer has suggested, with an apparent flippancy which may convey 
a real truth, that perhaps the Egyptian linen manufacturers had a 
pull with the Government. As an instance that this latter surmise 
may not be so absurd as it sounds, the writer cites the fact that 
Charles the Second of England, with the express object of promoting 
the use of woolen cloth in his realm, decreed that all dead persons 
must be wrapped in woolen shrouds. 




Here Is a Scene from the New England Hills. 
The Sheep Are Being Relieved of Their Fleece 
by Shearers Working with Hand Shears. Note 
How the Old Fellow in the Foreground Holds 
the Sheep Down During the Operation. On 
Large Ranches, Power Shears Are Used 



History of Wool 11 



But in any case, even if the Egyptian linen manufacturers were 
forced to use their influence with the Government, it merely goes to 
show that they were having a hard time with the competition of 
woolens. We have evidence to prove that the Egyptians wore both 
woolen and linen garments fully 3000 years before the opening of the 
Christian era, and it is likely that the beginning of woolen spinning 
and weaving among them antedated that time by many centuries. 

Coming down to later times we find from Homer (about 850 B. C.) 
that wool clothing was familiar to the most ancient Greeks. Evidently 
it was linen that Penelope was spinning while she held off her suitors 
until Ulysses could get back to her; but the familiar practice of spin- 
ning and weaving among the Greeks of that period is enough to 
suggest that they must have been making woolen cloth for a long time, 
as they were a pastoral people. Apparently they got the textile arts 
from the Babylonians. Herodotus tells us that the Babylonians wore 
woolen tunics, and Tertullian says: "From the beginning the Milesians 
were employed in shearing sheep, the Seres in spinning the product 
of trees, the Tyrians in dyeing, the Phrygians in embroidery and the 
Babylonians in weaving." 

Nobody who has read much in the history and legend of ancient 
Rome can escape the impression that the Roman matron did practically 
nothing but spin and weave from morning to night. Every time we 
catch a glimpse of her she is sitting at her distaff or sending her shuttle 
merrily "flashing through the loom." It is quite probable that most 
of the clothing worn by the ancient Romans was made of wool; for 
even in later times, when Rome began to grow rich, linen still was 
considered something of a luxury. Sheep raising was carried on ex- 
tensively in the country around Rome, and when we get down to the 
Augustan age we bejjin to find evidence that the Romans devoted con- 
siderable attention to the breeding of sheep. 

In fact, the finest wool-bearing sheep of our own times are indirect 
descendants of Roman breeds. About two hundred years before the 
birth of Christ the Romans had developed a breed of Tarentine sheep, 
which had valuable wool-bearing properties. These sheep were brown 
or black. The Arabs of Northern Africa in the meantime had devel- 



12 Wool, the World's Comforter 

oped a good wool-bearing sheep which was pure white. Undoubtedly 
the Arabs had bred sheep for their wool at a much earlier period than 
the Romans, inheriting the custom from the pastoral tribes that wan- 
dered the plains of Asia in prehistoric times. But the Romans appar- 
ently were the first European people to devote serious attention to 
sheep-breeding. 

In the first century A. D., a Spanish farmer crossed some Tarentine 
ewes with African rams, and the result of this cross was the famous 
Spanish merino, the ancestor of the finest wool-bearing sheep of our 
day. For many centuries Spain was the great wool-producing country 
of Europe. The famous merino stock was renewed there with Barbary 
rams imported by Pedro IV in the 14th century and by Cardinal 
Ximenes in the 16th century. But from about the 10th century on 
Spain had a dangerous rival in England, and by the 13th century 
England was unquestionably the greatest wool producing country in 
Europe. The reason for this is difficult to understand, as the English 
sheep could scarcely have been equal to the Spanish merino. But 
possibly the English wool was cheaper. 

It is difficult to ascertain when the rearing of sheep for their wool 
first began in England. Wool was used for clothing in that country 
before the Roman conquest, and the Romans manufactured woolen 
clothing there on a considerable scale for the use of their legionaries. 
But there is no documentary reference to native wool. A document 
of the year 712 mentions the price of sheep; but gives no inkling of 
whether the sheep were valued for their wool or their mutton. But by 
the 10th century we find English wool a most important article of 
commerce. In that century (the year 961, to be precise), 
Count Baldwin III established a woolen manufacturing industry at 
Ghent and wool markets at Ypres and Bruges, and for fully three 
centuries thereafter Flanders and Brabant were the great woolen 
manufacturing centers of Europe. Most of their raw material was 
derived from England. 

But beginning about the reign of Henry I, England began to 
develop a woolen industry of her own, and this industry was promoted 
most energetically by Edward III, who, among other measures for the 



History of Wool 13 



benefit of the English industry, prohibited the export of wool from 
England. From the reign of Edward III to that of Elizabeth the pro- 
hibition on the export of wool continued. It was lifted during the 
reign of Elizabeth; but was again put into effect in 1660 and continued 
until 1825. The measures taken to promote the woolen manufacturing 
industry in England also served to promote the sheep-breeding indus- 
try, and by the opening of the 19th century there were estimated to be 
about 30,000,000 sheep in England. Many of the English breeds, as 
we shall see in a later chapter, were good wool-bearing sheep, although 
none of them could quite compare with tha merino. 

During the centuries when England shut down on the export of 
wool, Spain was the main provider of raw material to the continental 
woolen industry until the Peninsular War. France, Germany and Aus- 
tria also produced some wools of fine quality. But Spain maintained 
her pre-eminence chiefly by virtue of the merino, which was heavily 
protected by laws forbidding under heavy penalties the export of 
merino sheep. Some of these sheep, however, trickled out into other 
countries as royal presents to reigning sovereigns. In this way Louis 
XIV of France got some which were the progenitors of the famous 
Rambouillet merinos. Others went to Germany and Austria, the former 
resulting in the Saxony merino, probably the finest of all wool-bearing 
sheep. Still others went to Holland, which sent them to the Cape 
of Good Hope after the Dutch settled that colony, and laid the foun- 
dation for the great wool-raising industry of South Africa. Some 
merinos were brought also from Spain to England — by smugglers, 
it is said. 

In the meantime, an important wool growing industry had been 
developing in the New World. In South America the use of wool as a 
textile fiber goes back to very ancient times. The Incas of Peru wove 
cloths of wool, and wool cloths were found also in Mexico by the first 
explorers of that country. The beginning of the North American wool 
growing industry, however, may be traced to the landing of English 
sheep at Jamestown, Va., in 1609. James I, who was interested in 
promoting so many things, encouraged wool growing in the Colonies, 
and the industry was further encouraged by subsequent colonial gov- 



14 Wool, the World's Comforter 

ernors. In the early 18th century, Jamaica, Maryland and Virginia 
were exporting wool to England. 

But the greater profits in tobacco and cotton interfered with the 
promotion of sheep raising in the South on a large scale, while in New 
England the climate was not particularly favorable, as it made pas- 
turing difficult or impossible in winter time. Nevertheless, consider- 
able attention was paid to sheep breeding in this country after the 
Revolution and during the early years of the 19th century, and Ver- 
mont especially became famous for the breeding of fine sheep. Be- 
tween 1801 and 1812 merino sheep were introduced by William Davis, 
Col. David Humphreys and others. From these have developed a fine 
American type known as delaine. Finally the opening up of the West 
provided large areas suitable for sheep raising, and made the United 
States one of the important wool producing countries of the world. 

But the 19th century, which marked the growth of the United 
States and the decline of Europe as wool-producing regions, saw both 
of them rapidly overshadowed by Australasia, which is now by all odds 
the greatest wool producing area in the world. The foundation of the 
Australian sheep raising industry seems to have been laid by Capt. 
John MacArthur of the British Army, who brought some merinos there 
from the Cape in the beginning of the 19th century. Later a con- 
siderable number of Rambouillet rams were brought from France and 
crossed with the other merino stocks. Merinos were brought to Aus- 
tralia also from England, Saxony and the United States. In New 
Zealand and in South America the sheep raising industry began some- 
what as it did in Australia, with the importation of merinos from 
other countries; but, unlike Australia, both New Zealand and South 
America gradually began to devote more and more attention to the 
raising of mutton or cross-bred sheep, and while they are still important 
wool-producing countries, they supply a comparatively small proportion 
of fine wools. 



Chapter II 
History of Wool Manufacture 

AS mentioned in the preceding chapter, wool was first made into 
cloth ages before the beginning of recorded history. It is 
assumed that primitive men made woolen cloth by felting the 
wool before the arts of spinning and weaving were discovered. There 
is no means of knowing that they did this, except by analogy with 
primitive people of our time, such as the Polynesians, who make cloth 
from vegetable fibers in this way. But the pulpy nature of vegetable 
fibers may have suggested such a method of treatment as an alternative 
to the more laborious work of spinning and weaving, and it is to be 
doubted if woolen cloth was first made in such a manner. 

It is much more like'y that the art of weaving, in its most elemen- 
tary form, was practised long before men abandoned the use of animal 
skins for clothing, or perhaps even before they adopted clothing at 
all. No doubt it began with the first crude attempts of primitive 
women to weave twigs into some kind of object, with no other idea, 
probably, than a mere childish curiosity as to what the result would 
be, or an equally childish desire to keep their hands employed during 
the long hours when the men were away on the chase. 

After they had succeeded in making baskets and similar articles, 
it probably occurred to some bright cave woman that clothing might 
be made by weaving some soft material like wool. To do this it 
would be necessary to twist tufts of wool into long strands. Thus 
we have the beginning of spinning. And as the strands of wool were 
not stiff like twigs, it would be necessary to have a certain number of 
them stretched taut between poles or something in order to weave the 
fabric. Thus we had the first loom. 

All this is surmise, of course, but it is probable that the arts of 
spinning and weaving began in some such way. When we come to 
the earliest mythological and historical records we find the arts of 
spinning and weaving mentioned so frequently as to suggest that 
they had been in existence for long ages and had been developed to 

[15] 



16 Wool, the World's Comforter 

a fairly advanced stage. The Egyptians attribute the invention of 
weaving to the goddess Isis, and they themselves were generally 
credited by other ancient peoples with having been the inventors of 
weaving. This, however, was due largely to the deep impression 
made by Egyptian civilization on the ancient world, particularly the 
Greeks. It is more probable that the Egyptians developed the art 
of weaving to a higher degree than any other people, for they were 
excellent craftsmen, and that they borrowed some of their best 
ideas, as was their custom, from the Assyrians. 

In the Bible we find Job complaining that the days of his life fly 
past as quickly as the shuttle through the loom — a very familiar 
complaint. It suggests, however, that the weavers of his time must 
have had considerable skill. To judge by the pictures of ancient 
Egyptian looms, most of the skill must have been in the fingers of 
the operatives. But the imperfection of their looms did not prevent 
them from weaving beautiful fabrics, no more than it prevented 
the Hindus from weaving their exquisitely fine Dacca muslins on 
looms of an equally primitive type. Later, Babylon became the great 
center of trade in woolen cloths, and its people are said by Tertullian 
to have surpassed all other people in weaving, just as the people 
of Tyre surpassed all others in the art of dyeing. Still later the 
trade supremacy passed to Carthage. 

It would be interesting to know whether those ancient trading 
nations had anything remotely approaching the beginnings of a fac- 
tory system. We consider it likely that they had. The surpassing 
skill of the Egyptian and Babylonian weavers is convincing proof 
that they were highly trained craftsmen, and it is altogether likely 
that they were slaves employed in numbers by wealthy merchants. 
It is probable that they were housed under one roof by their masters, 
with women and children who did the picking, carding and spinning, 
and thus constituted what might be called a factory in embryo. Among 
more pastoral peoples, such as the Greeks and Hebrews, the spinning 
and weaving were done in the home, and women of the highest rank 
busied themselves with making clothing for their households. And 
it is a curious thing that the textile industry, until comparatively 



History of Wool Manufacture 17 



3cent times, developed along the lines of a household craft rather 
lan along the lines of the primitive factory system. 

Both systems seem to have existed in ancient Rome. The Roman 
latrons of the patrician class were very industrious women and 
roud of their skill in spinning and weaving. On their great estates 
ley maintained large numbers of male and female slaves, some of 
horn they instructed in the textile arts, so that every estate had a 
Drt of private textile factory which supplied clothing for the family 
nd its servants. There was also in Rome and other cities of the 
mpire a class of professional weavers, called textores, who in some 
ises, perhaps, were freemen and practised their craft independently, 
[though in most cases probably they were slaves. The usual dress 
f the Romans was made of wool, and even as late as Caesar's time 
nen was something of a luxury, while silk was decidedly so. There 
as the toga densa or hirta (thick or hairy toga) worn in the winter 
me, and the toga trita or rasa (thin or smooth toga) worn in sum- 
ler. The former obviously was made of a heavy, napped, woolen 
oth, and the latter of a light material similar to worsted. 

It is not apparent, however, that the Romans developed to any 
reat extent the textile arts, or any other arts except those of war. 
he important centers of the textile industry continued to be in Asia 
nd North Africa, although in the declining years of the Roman 
mpire there were considerable textile manufactures in Constanti- 
ople and other Greek cities. During the early centuries of the 
hristian era the finest woolen stuffs were made in Bagdad, Damas- 
is and other cities of the Saracenic Empire, while the barbarians 
ere overrunning Europe, extinguishing the torch of civilization which 
le Romans had kindled. 

In the textile arts, as in all other respects, this torch was re- 
indled by Venice, Florence and the other great cities of the Italian 
enaissance. Venice it was that brought woolen manufacture back 
) Europe. Even before this time, it is true, there was a flourishing 
oolen industry in Spain. The industry had been introduced there 
t a very early age by the Carthagenians, and was re-introduced in 
le 8th century by the Saracens, who were noted for the production 



18 Wool, the World's Comforter 

of beautiful fabrics. But Moorish Spain was only geographically a 
part of Europe. It was really a part of the Saracenic Empire, and 
it did not serve as a carrier of the textile arts to other European 
countries. In the Middle Ages, Barcelona had become the seat of 
an important woolen industry and its products were far-famed. But 
after the discovery of the New World the attention of the Spaniards 
was turned to gold and the more prosaic textile industries began to 
decline. 

In Venice, Florence, Padua and other Italian cities, however, the 
woolen industry flourished apace. Venice imported weavers from 
Constantinople and the cities of the Levant, and became not only a 
great woolen manufacturing center, but a great cloth market. In 
Florence, we are told, wool manufacturing was established about the 
year 1250 by friars of the Order of St. Michael of Alexandria, and 
soon grew to large proportions. Villani, in his "History of Florence," 
says that in the year 1340 there were over 200 wool manufacturing 
establishments there, supporting about 30,000 people. 

In the medieval Italian cities they had the guild system, which 
was more a development of the household craft than of the primitive 
factory system. Instead of being slaves working for a master, the 
weavers of the Middle Ages were independent craftsmen, who were 
very proud of their skill and put on considerable airs. A master 
weaver conducted his business in his own home, with the aid of 
his family and apprentices, and he had his yarn spun for him by 
women and children either on his own premises or in their homes. An 
apprentice could rise to the dignity of a master weaver on his own 
account after he had served a certain number of years and passed 
the tests of the guild, which were very strict. This system, with 
variations, continued until the beginning of the industrial revolution. 

From Italy, the woolen industry spread to the Netherlands, where 
it is said to have been established by Count Baldwin III about the 
year 960 or 961. For centuries the industry flourished in Flanders, 
Brabant and Hainault, and supplied most of Europe with clothing. 
Bruges was the great woolen market until the 16th century, when 
it began to be eclipsed by the rise of Antwerp. Ghent and Louvain 




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History of Wool Manufacture 21 



also were important manufacturing cities. It is said that in the 
year 1305 Louvain had 4000 weaving establishments, employing 
150,000 journeymen weavers; but this doesn't sound at all probable. 
In the 14th century the woolen industry of the Netherlands began 
to decline, and the religious persecutions of the 16th century prac- 
tically ruined the industry. In the 16th and 17th centuries the chief 
manufacturing centers were Leyden, Haarlem and Amsterdam. 
France, owing perhaps to continued wars, was very late in taking 
up woolen manufacture, being content to get her supplies from the 
Netherlands. It was not until the reign of Henry of Navarre that 
the industry began to be developed in an important way. Subse- 
quently, the province of Languedoc, particularly the city of Nismes, 
became famous for fine woolen cloths. 

In England, the Romans are supposed to have taught the Britons 
how to make woolens. In any case, they had a factory at Winchester, 
which made clothing for their legionaries, and this may be said, 
perhaps, to have been the beginning of the industry in England. Then 
came the invading Angles and Saxons, who were relatively barbarians 
and certainly had no organized industry of any kind. But they 
practised spinning and weaving in their homes. 

The real beginning of the woolen industry in England, however, 
was laid by the first immigrant Flemish weavers. Some of them 
are said to have come over with William the Conqueror; but this is 
by no means certain. A considerable number of weavers were driven 
from Flanders by floods, and settled in England in the reign of Henry 
I. That they came in considerable numbers is proved by the fact 
that during the reign of Henry I and his successor, Stephen, several 
guilds of weavers were incorporated. Their principal headquarters 
was the city of Norwich, which remained for centuries the chief 
woolen manufacturing center in England. Some of them settled in 
Worstead, in Norfolk, and specialized in fine cloths, which became 
known as worsteds, after the city in which they were made. 

The wars which disturbed the reigns of John and Henry III, 
brought decay to the English woolen industry; but it began to revive 
during the reigns of Edward I and IT and was put on such a flourish- 



22 Wool, the World's Comforter 

ing basis by Edward III that often he is given credit for having 
founded the industry in England. But Edward, like many another 
man, gets a lot of credit which ought by right to go to his wife. She 
was Philippa, daughter of the Earl of Hainault, and being a Nether- 
lander, she had grown up with the woolen industry, so to speak. At 
her suggestion and through her influence Edward III brought over 
crowds of Flemish weavers, dyers and fullers, whom he encouraged 
and protected in every possible way. During his reign the industry 
spread all over the kingdom. 

After Edward's death the woolen industry languished until the 
reign of Henry VI, who took some steps to promote it, among them 
being the establishment of a system of inspection to prevent short 
measuring and misrepresentation of goods, a practice which had become 
distressingly common among the honest craftsmen of the time. Henry 
VII, who was a good business man, brought over more weavers from 
Flanders and encouraged the industry energetically; but Henry VIII, 
who was not a good business man and had other things to think of, 
paid little attention to it, and the industry began to decline again. It 
revived in the reign of Elizabeth, when there was a further immigra- 
tion of weavers, following religious persecution in the Netherlands. 

Thereafter, with various ups and downs, it continued to flourish 
until the 18th century, when the invention of the fly shuttle, the 
spinning jenny, the mule and the power loom gave it a tremendous 
impetus. After the discovery of steam power the industry shifted 
more and more to the North, where coal was handy. For many gen- 
erations before this there had been considerable woolen manufacturing 
in Yorkshire and other Northern counties; but after the application 
of steam power the North began to thrive industrially at the expense 
of the rest of the country, and during the 19th century the woolen 
manufacturing industry became concentrated chiefly in the West 
Riding of Yorkshire. 

Credit for founding the industry in America seems to belong to 
a number of Yorkshire families who settled at Rowley, Mass., about 
1638, and built a fulling mill there in 1643, making cloths from both 
"cotton wool" and "sheep's wool." No doubt the very first immigrants 



History of Wool Manufacture 23 

spun and wove woolen cloths in their homes as soon as they could 
get wool to spin and weave them with. As early as 1639 there is 
record of home-made cloth in the records of the Probate Court of 
Massachusetts, and the Massachusetts Bay Colony offered bounties for 
woolen cloth made from home-grown wool. 

Most of the Colonial legislatures, as a matter of fact, did everything 
possible to promote the woolen industry, and by the middle of the 
17th century it was well established. In order to promote sheep 
raising, an act was passed in 1654 prohibiting the importation of 
wool from England. By 1699 the industry had grown to such propor- 
tions that the British Parliament, fearful of the effect of such 
competition on the home industry, prohibited the export of woolen 
manufactures from the Colonies. By that time there were woolen 
mills — with hand machinery, of course — at Roxbury, Watertown, 
Andover, Ipswich, Barnstable and many other New England towns. 
In 1695 a worsted mill was established by John Cornish at Boston. 

During the first half of the 18th century woolen manufacture con- 
tinued to flourish in the Colonies, although largely as a cottage 
industry. This in spite of the fact that, while the Colonial legislatures 
had not been slow in promoting the woolen industry, their most 
energetic efforts had been devoted to the establishment of a linen 
industry. As a sort of testimonial to these combined efforts the 
most characteristic and widely used cloth of the period was the linsey 
woolsey, a fabric with a linen warp and wool filling. 

After the Revolution it took fresh life, not only in New England 
but in Pennsylvania, where it had been introduced by the early Quaker 
and German settlers. It is said that there were twelve fulling mills 
in Philadelphia in 1760. During the Revolution, Philadelphia made 
clothes for the Continental Army, and the industry was encouraged 
there by the patriots. By 1810 there were three woolen mills in 
Philadelphia and one in Germantown — that is, real woolen mills con- 
ducting all the processes in the manufacture of cloth. The first woolen 
mill of this kind in America seems to have been one established at 
Hartford, Conn., in 1788, and known as the Hartford Woolen Manu- 
factory. The first woolen mill worked by power machinery is said 



24 Wool, the World's Comforter 

to have been built at Newburyport, Mass., in 1794, under the direction 
of John and Arthur Scholfield, who came to Boston from Saddleworth, 
Yorkshire. The former built a mill at Montville, Conn., in 1799, and 
his brother built one at Pittsfield, Mass., in 1800. From this time on, 
the industry developed gradually until 1845, when the city of Lawrence 
was founded and the career of the great American woolen industry, 
as we know it now, really began. 



Chapter III 
The Wool-Bearing Sheep 

IT is difficult to define the difference between wool and hair. In 
fact, many authorities maintain that there is no real difference 

between them, and that wool is simply a variety of hair. Certainly, 
it is impossible to say exactly at what point an animal fiber ceases to 
be hair and becomes wool. On some wild or neglected sheep, for 
example, the wool is as much like hair as the hair of some other 
animals is like wool. 

However, wool may be differentiated from hair by the fact that the 
latter is straight and smooth, while the former is wavy or kinky and is 
covered with minute serratures, or saw-like teeth, varying between 
1200 and 3000 to the inch. It is these characteristics of wool which 
give it such value for textile purposes. The waviness of the fibers 
gives them elasticity and their serrated surface causes them to adhere 
closely to one another, so that they mat or felt readily. 

Chemically, wool is composed of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen 
and sulphur. The proportions of these substances vary in different 
kinds of wool, some wools having a high carbon content, some a high 
nitrogen content, and so forth. Because of its chemical content wool 
will resist the action of most acids, but will dissolve readily in a 
strong alkali. It is very easy, therefore, to detect the proportion of 
wool in a cotton-mixed fabric, for instance, by immersing the fabric 
in a solution of caustic soda, which will dissolve the wool but leave 
the cotton intact. 

Physically, wool, like hair, is a hollow tube, the medulla or hollow 
core being Ms to ] /4 the total diameter of the fiber. This is a great 
advantage in dyeing, since the coloring matter enters the ends of the 
fiber, filling up the hollow core and showing through the transparent 
outer surface like colored liquid through a glass bottle. Were it not 
for this advantage, wool, owing to its hard, scaly surface, would be 
very difficult to dye satisfactorily. 

The quality of wool depends upon a number of conditions, the chief 

1 25 j 



26 Wool, the World's Comforter 

of which, perhaps, is the variety of sheep from which it is taken. It 
can readily be understood that, among the hundreds of millions of 
wild and domesticated sheep raised in all parts of the world under all 
sorts of climatic conditions, with countless differences in care and 
breeding, the varieties of wool produced are practically without 
limit. All these varieties, it is thought, derive from a few original 
classes of hairy sheep and have been multiplied beyond count by 
interbreeding through thousands of years. They may be divided 
roughly into wild sheep and domesticated sheep. The former, which 
are still to be found in large numbers in South Africa, South 
America, India, Thibet, our own Rocky Mountains and other 
localities, may be passed over without comment, as they are of no 
importance from a commercial point of view. 

Domesticated sheep of all varieties, however, produce wool of 
more or less value for commercial purposes. All of them derive 
originally, it is presumed, from the moufflon, a rough-haired sheep 
which roamed the plains of central Asia in prehistoric times and was 
probably the first animal domesticated by man. Presumably it was 
a black or brown animal with a thick covering of hair and a light 
down of wool next the skin. It is quite likely that the development 
of the woolly coating on sheep happened at first accidentally through 
domestication and the inbreeding of domesticated animals; for 
the tendency of sheep which are neglected and allowed to run wild 
is to revert to the hairy type. Later, sheep were bred expressly 
for their wool, and we have evidence that efforts were made to breed 
white sheep even as early as Biblical times. 

At the beginning of the Christian era there had been developed in 
Asia and Africa a fine, white, wool-bearing sheep, and the crossing of 
this variety with Tarentine sheep by a Spanish farmer, as noted in a 
previous chapter, resulted in the development of the Spanish merino, 
the ancestor of our finest wool-bearing sheep. At present the merino 
variety is cultivated in all the sheep-raising countries of the world. 
Naturally, it has been influenced by climatic and other conditions in 
different countries, so that there are many different kinds of pure 
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The Wool-Bearing Sheep 29 

developed into the Saxony and Silesian merino, which produces the 
very finest wool in the world. Saxony merinos have been introduced 
into the United States and other countries, and mixed with other 
merinos or other varieties. 

Similarly, the Spanish merino introduced into France developed 
into the Rambouillet type, which has been specially popular in the 
United States. Merinos also have been introduced into the United 
States directly from Spain. So, we have in this country merino sheep 
descended from French, German and Spanish types, and modified by 
climatic conditions in different parts of the country and by different 
methods of care and breeding. In Australia, to give another example, 
merinos have been introduced at various times from South Africa, 
England, the United States, Germany and France. These, in turn, 
have been modified by local conditions, so that there are three distinct 
types of Australian pure merino, varying from a small sheep with 
very fine wool to a large sheep with comparatively coarse wool. 

In general, the merino is a small sheep, very thickly covered with 
fine, crimpy wool. Its short legs and its thick wool coating, which 
covers practically all its body except its feet and its snout, gives it 
rather a funny appearance, somewhat resembling those little woolly 
lapdogs which women carry around with them. The fiber is very 
fine and of medium staple, varying between two and four inches. 
It contains more serratures or scales to the inch than other varieties 
and this, together with its fineness, makes it specially valuable for the 
production of fine fabrics. It is not so lustrous as the coarser wools 
of other varieties. 

Next to the merino, the most important wool-bearing sheep are 
the so-called long-wool sheep, which are of English origin. As the 
name indicates, the chief characteristic of these sheep is a wool 
of long staple, ranging from four to twelve inches. The wool, as a 
rule is coarse and highly lustrous. Because of its coarseness it is 
not desirable for most kinds of fabrics. But the weight and length 
of their fleece, and the fact that they are suited for mutton as well 
as for wool, makes the long-wool sheep very desirable for crossing 
with merinos, and they are used principally for this purpose. The 



30 Wool, the World's Comforter 

best-known varieties of long-wool sheep are the Leicester, Lincoln, 
Cotswold and Romney Marsh. 

Leicester sheep are considered to be the oldest of the English long- 
wool breeds. They produce a clean wool of good quality and excep- 
tional luster. Because of its small head, the Leicester is especially 
suitable for crossing with small-framed merino ewes, and the result 
is one of the finest of cross-bred wools. It is also used to a considerable 
extent for crossing with other breeds, especially with Lincoln and 
Romney Marsh sheep. The wool of the pure Leicester is very long 
in staple, often over twelve inches, but it is too coarse for general use. 
except in braids, linings and certain lustrous dress goods. 

The Lincoln is a large-framed sheep producing a very heavy fleece 
of long-staple wool. The average Lincoln will yield from 12 to 15 
pounds of wool. This wool is slightly less lustrous than that of the 
Leicester, and somewhat coarser. The Lincoln is excellent for cross- 
ing with pure merino and cross-bred merino ewes, and is used exten- 
sively for this purpose, especially in South America and the western 
United States. 

Cotswold and Romney Marsh sheep yield what are frequently re- 
ferred to as semi-luster wools, that is, wools which are not so lustrous 
as those from the Lincoln or Leicester breeds, but more lustrous than 
merinos. The Cotswold bears a general resemblance to the Leicester, 
and has been found useful for crossing with merino ewes. It is per- 
haps the favorite breed for this purpose on the western ranges of 
the United States. Crossed with the merino, it produces an abundance 
of good wool and fairly good mutton. The Romney Marsh is a hardier 
breed, especially suited to a wet climate and to poor country. Crossed 
with the merino, it produces a hardy sheep with a bright, fine, long- 
staple wool. It is little known in the United States, but is used a 
good deal for crossing with merinos in South America and New Zea- 
land. The latter country also uses Leicester sheep to a considerable 
extent for crossing with merinos. 

Both in South America and New Zealand, and on an increasing 
scale in the United States, sheep are being bred more and more for 
mutton, and this has led to the frequent crossing of merino and 



The Wool-Bearing Sheep 31 

long-wool sheep with the mutton varieties. The mutton sheep as a 
class are small and easily fattened. They run to fat rather than to 
wool, and yield a light fleece of fairly fine, soft, short-staple wool. Since 
both wool and mutton have a commercial value, it is a common practice 
to cross the mutton sheep with other varieties, especially long-wool 
breeds. Probably the best of these mutton sheep is the Shropshire, 
which produces a thick fleece of tolerably good wool, as well as excel- 
lent mutton. For this reason, and because it needs comparatively little 
care, it is the most useful type for the general farmer. In Australia 
it is used often for crossing with small-framed merinos. 

As a mutton producer, the Southdown sheep is without a rival; but 
it is not much as a wool grower. It yields a light fleece of short, curly 
wool. Other familiar mutton sheep are the Suffolks, Hampshires, Ox- 
fords and Dorsets, all of which share the same general characteristics. 
In addition to these there are several other varieties of British sheep 
which produce wool of special value for certain purposes. Among 
them are the Shetland and Cheviot sheep, both Scottish breeds. Cheviot 
wool is especially in demand for tweeds and Shetland wool for hosiery 
and knit underwear. Some Welsh and Irish wools also are highly 
valued by British manufacturers. The best of the Irish sheep is the 
Roscommon, which is a cross between the Leicester and a native breed. 

It may easily be imagined that between the different classes of 
sheep mentioned above, and their multitudinous crosses, the different 
varieties of wool are beyond number. While, strictly speaking, the 
wool from any crossbred sheep is properly described as crossbred wool, 
the term crossbred as used in the wool trade refers only to wool from 
crosses between the merino and other breeds. Such wool is usually 
described according to the proportion of merino blood in the breed. 
A pure merino crossed with a pure long-wool sheep, for example, 
would produce a V-rblood, and a V-rblood crossed with a long-wool 
would produce a V^-blood, and so on. The terms y 2 -blood, Vi-blood, 
etc., are frequently used, however, to describe wool of a certain quality, 
without reference to the proportion of merino blood. In Australia 
there is a common variety of sheep known as "comebacks," which result 
from breeding crossbreds back to the merino side. 



32 Wool, the World's Comforter 



Besides the various classes of sheep already mentioned there is 
still another class which produces low-grade wools, known in the trade 
as carpet wools. These wools come from native sheep which have not 
been improved by breeding. Nowadays most of the carpet wools come 
from Asia Minor, Mongolia, India, China and Russia, as well as from 
certain mountainous districts, such as the Pyrenees and the Scottish 
Highlands. Although, in this country at least, such wools are used 
chiefly for carpets, they are also used largely for low-grade woolens, 
coarse blankets, felt, carriage robes and various other purposes. 



Chapter IV 
The World's Wool Production 

EXACT estimates have never been made of the total wool pro- 
duction of the world. Such estimates, in fact, have always 
been impracticable, as sheep raising is carried on in many 
regions where there is no official census in existence. However, the 
bulk of the wool used in the world's commerce is raised in countries 
from which official returns are available and in which conditions 
have not been disturbed greatly by the war, so that it is possible at 
least to arrive at an approximate estimate of the world's supplies. 

All authoritative estimates give the total production of wool as 
about 2,800,000,000 pounds annually. Of this about 40 per cent is 
produced in the British Empire, about 15 per cent in South America 
and Russia, respectively, and about 10 per cent in the United States. 
Most of the remaining 20 per cent is produced in Continental Europe 
and Asia Minor. There is reason to believe that the wool production 
of China and Mongolia is large; but no estimates of its amount are 
available, and only a comparatively small volume of low grade or 
carpet wools from these countries find their way into the world's 
commerce. 

Easily the most important of the wool producing countries is 
Australia, which produces annually about G50,000,000 pounds, or 
more than one-fifth of the total world supply. Over 80 per cent of 
the Australian wool is merino, although there is being produced an 
increasing quantity of crossbred wools, obtained chiefly by crossing 
the merino with the Leicester and Lincoln. This tendency to substi- 
tute crossbreds for merinos seems bound to develop rapidly in 
Australia, owing to the profits of the mutton trade and the encroach- 
ment of small squatters on the big ranches. The principal merino 
wools of Australi-a^are classed as Port Phillip or Victoria, Sydney or 
New South Wales, Queensland, West Australian or Swan River, and 
Adelaide or South Australian. 

Port Phillip is recognized as one of the best wools in the world, 

[33] 



34 Wool, the World's Comforter 

ranking almost as high as the best Saxony merino. It is used for the 
finest woolens and worsteds, and it is especially in demand by 
makers of very fine woolen yarns, because of its exceptional felting 
qualities. Sydney wools also have excellent felting qualities and 
are very soft and elastic, but they are inferior in color and strength 
to the Port Phillip sorts. Queensland wools are soft and of good 
color, but are inferior in strength and elasticity. West Australian 
wools are comparatively coarse, while Adelaide wools, although of 
good quality, are very dirty, with sand and excessive yolk or grease. 

In addition to these varieties, there is a very good merino wool 
produced in Tasmania, which is commonly known as Van wool. It 
is a very clean white in color, and is therefore especially suitable 
for goods which are to be dyed in light shades. Australian cross- 
breds are classed as comebacks or extra fine, fine, medium and 
coarse. The first-named, as mentioned in the preceding chapter, 
is a variety obtained by breeding a crossbred back to the merino 
side. It is practically equivalent to merino wool in quality, although 
averaging somewhat longer in staple. 

New Zealand produces annually about 117,000,000 pounds of 
wool. Fully 80 per cent of this is crossbred wool, obtained by cross- 
ing merinos with Romney Marsh, Leicester or mutton breeds. The 
New Zealand pure merino wool is somewhat coarser than the finest 
Australian, but otherwise equal to it in quality. South Africa (in- 
cluding Cape Colony, the Orange Free State, the Transvaal and 
Natal) produces about 200,000,000 pounds of wool annually. Most 
of the South African product is a cross between the merino and 
native breeds, and is inferior to Australian wool in strength, wavi- 
ness, elasticity and felting quality. But the best variety of South 
African merino v/ool, known as Cape Snow White, is of exceptionally 
good color and is equal in quality to the finest Australian. 

Among the other wool producing areas of the British Empire 
are India, Canada and the Falkland Islands. The production of 
British India is estimated at about 60,000,000 pounds annually. This 
includes some of the best known varieties of carpet wools, such as 
Joria, Vicanere and Kandahar. Canada produces about 11,000,000 




This Is How Wool Looks When Received at the 

Mill. It Comes in Bags in Which the Fleeces 

Are Tied Together, Waiting to Be Sorted Into 

Their Various Qualities 



The World's Wool Production 37 



pounds annually, mostly from sheep of the mutton varieties. The 
production of the Falkland Islands is comparatively small, about 
4,000,000 pounds annually; but most of it is Cheviot wool of good 
quality and especially suitable for the making of tweeds and similar 
fabrics. In the United Kingdom the annual production of wool 
amounts to between 120,000,000 and 125,000,000 pounds. Most of 
this comes from sheep of the Down and Cheviot breeds or from 
crosses between these and the Lincoln and Leicester breeds. 

In South America the total annual production of wool amounts 
to about 400,000,000 pounds, most of which is produced in Argentine 
and Uruguay. In Uruguay about 80 per cent of the wool is 
from fine merinos, chiefly of the French Rambouillet breed. The 
remainder, for the most part, is from crossbreds of merino ewes 
with Lincoln or Romney Marsh rams. About 75 per cent of the 
Argentine wools are crossbreds of merino with Lincoln or mutton 
breeds, the rest being pure merino. Generally speaking, the 
South American merino wool is much more burry, greasy and 
dirty than the Australian varieties. The wools from Uruguay 
are usually referred to as Montevideo wools, while those from 
the Argentine are usually referred to as Buenos Ayres wools. 
The former, on the whole, are the more desirable. There is in addi- 
tion a considerable production of wool in Tierra del Fuego, known 
as Punta Arenas wool, from the port of shipment. This is some- 
what coarser, more tender and more kempy than the Montevideo and 
Buenos Ayres varieties. 

In the United States the annual production of wool averages 
between 250,000,000 and 300,000,000 pounds. Little more than half 
of this is merino. The chief wool growing states, in the order of 
their importance, are Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico, Idaho, Ohio, 
Oregon, Utah, California, Michigan, Colorado, Texas, Pennsylvania, 
Wisconsin, Missouri, Nevada, Indiana, Iowa, Arizona, New York, 
Illinois, South Dakota, Washington, Kentucky, West Virginia, Minne- 
sota, North Dakota, Virginia, Nebraska, Kansas, Maine, Tennessee 
and Vermont. Of these, Wyoming and Montana produce between 
them about 70,000,000 pounds annually. 



38 Wool, the World's Comforter 

It is generally taken for granted that the production of wool in 
the United States is declining, but this assumption is not borne out 
by the records. Figures of production covering the last thirty years 
show, on the whole, a fluctuating tendency. For example, from a 
high point of over 348,000,000 pounds in 1893, production declined to 
about 259,000,000 pounds in 1897. Then it gradually rose to more 
than 316,000,000 pounds in 1902, slumping suddenly to about 287,- 
500,000 pounds in 1903, rising again steadily to 328,000,000 pounds 
in 1909, and again declining to about 229,000,000 pounds in 1919. 
Production in 1920, which amounted to about 259,000,000 pounds, 
was practically the same as the production for 1897. 

Among the other wool producing countries of the world, the most 
important is Russia, which yields nearly 400,000,000 pounds an- 
nually — or did before the revolution. A large proportion of this is 
carpet wool. The Russian carpet wool imported into this country 
is generally known as Donskoi wool, although strictly speaking 
Donskoi is the name of a special variety of Russian wool. It is used 
for the best domestic velvet and Axminster carpets. Russia pro- 
duces also a considerable amount of good clothing (merino) wools, 
the best of which are known as Odessa wools. These are strong, 
fairly fine wools, of exceptionally good color. Georgia, which for 
convenience may be included in Russia, produces some of the finest 
carpet wools imported into this country. The production of Turkey 
and Asia Minor is practically all carpet wool. Outside of Turkey 
and Russia, Continental Europe produces altogether about 265,000,- 
000 pounds of wool annually. 

More than half the total world production of wool is consumed 
by Great Britain and the United States. Consumption of wool in the 
United States in recent years has averaged around 700,000,000 
pounds, while consumption in the United Kingdom averages between 
800,000,000 and 850,000,000 pounds. It is worth noting that con- 
sumption of wool in the United States is more than twice the domes- 
tic production, while consumption of wool in the United Kingdom is 
considerably less than the total production of the British Empire. 
This exactly reverses the situation existing in cotton. The other 



The World's Wool Production 39 

chief consuming countries are France, Germany, the former empire 
of Austria-Hungary and Italy. The precise figures for these coun- 
tries are not available, but they may be estimated as approximately 
480,000,000 pounds for France, 400,000,000 pounds for Germany, 
60,000,000 pounds for Italy, and 140,000,000 pounds for the countries 
comprising the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. 



Chapter V 
Classification and Marketing of Wool 

MOST of the world's sheep are raised either on large ranches or 
on small farms in connection with dairy or other produce. The 
former is the prevailing method in Australia, South America 
and the western United States, while the latter prevails in such regions 
as the Middle West, England and Continental Europe. In addition, 
large numbers of sheep are raised by primitive pastoral methods in 
remote mountain districts, such as the Highlands of Scotland, the 
Pyrenees, and the plateaus of Central Asia. These, as a rule, are un- 
improved native varieties, and their wool comes under the general head- 
ing of carpet wool. 

The gradual reduction of great sheep runs by the increase of pop- 
ulation in sparsely settled territories creates a serious problem as 
to the world's future wool supplies. A farmer raising from 20 
to 100 sheep cannot do it as cheaply as a rancher raising 20,000 to 
30,000 sheep. In fact, the small profits of sheep raising, as compared 
with other farm products, is the main reason for its decline in farming 
districts. For this reason alone the disappearance of the big ranches 
will in all probability mean much higher prices for wool. Besides, the 
necessity of obtaining a given quantity of wool from 200 to 300 farmers 
instead of from one rancher will increase the difficulty of marketing 
and classifying wool. 

On the other hand, there may be a great saving through the better 
care which farmers, properly instructed in scientific methods, can give 
to small flocks. At present sheep raising is, in a financial sense, an 
extremely hazardous occupation, for the loss of sheep through various 
causes, especially on the large ranches, is very high. In Australia 
and the Southwest of the United States, for example, there are fre- 
quent and heavy losses through drought. In states such as Montana 
and Wyoming thousands of sheep may be killed in a blizzard. ' At 
lambing time, particularly if the weather is bad, there is a great loss 
of lambs. The loss on ranches from this cause alone averages over 

[40] 



Classification and Marketing of Wool 41 



10 per cent. Then there is loss through wild animals, poisonous plants, 
disease and other causes. 

Generally speaking, the raising of wool for market involves little 
effort except that involved in the care of the sheep. A periodical 
disinfectant dip, for the purpose of killing ticks and other parasites, 
is about the only treatment necessary before shearing. In some lo- 
calities, particularly in England, it is customary to wash the sheep 
before shearing. This washing removes some of the dirt and grease 
from the wool and makes it lighter for shipment, but as a subsequent 
scouring is always necessary this preliminary washing of sheep is not 
generally considered worth while. Wool from sheep which have been 
washed before shearing is known in the markets as washed wool. 

Originally wool was obtained from the sheep's back by the simple 
process of pulling it out, as feathers are obtained from a dead bird, 
and this barbarous custom still survives in many isolated parts of the 
world. But almost universally nowadays the wool is sheared off 
either with a hand shears or by machine. The hand shears naturally 
is the method employed on small farms, but on the ranches machine 
shearing is the rule. Shearing time varies in different parts of the 
world— April and May in the United States, for instance, September 
and October in Australia, November in New Zealand, January in Tas- 
mania, June and July in Great Britain, and so on. 

When the shearing is properly done the whole fleece from the 
sheep holds together in one sheet. This is skirted to remove the stained 
britch wool and the dirty wool round the edges of the fleece. It is then 
rolled up, tied, and packed in bales for shipment. In most countries 
the sheep farmers, especially the small farmers, make no attempt to 
classify their wool, the classification being done by the wool dealers. 
But in Australia it is customary to classify the wool on the ranch 
before shipment, because the ranchers as a rule can afford to employ 
expert sorters and because sheep breeding in Australia is sufficiently 
standardized to permit some approach to an exact classification. 

The accurate classification of wool presents almost insurmountable 
difficulties. The qualities of wool vary not only with the different 
breeds of sheep but with the health of the sheep, with variations in 



42 Wool, the World's Comforter 

soil and climate, and with innumerable other conditions. Pure bred 
merino sheep from South Australia, Tasmania, Uruguay and Mon- 
tana, for example, will present so many differences as to be practically 
different varieties. The wool of sheep raised in the rich pastures of 
Ohio, to give another instance, will differ altogether from wool of 
exactly the same variety of sheep raised on the arid lands of New 
Mexico. And when it is remembered that farmers in the same locality 
will cross and intercross different breeds of sheep without reference to 
any accepted standard, it can readily be understood that anything 
like an accurate classification of wool is next to impossible. When the 
New York Wool Exchange was established some years ago it defined 
two hundred grades of American wool, but found after a time that 
this number of grades was not nearly sufficient. 

A rough classification, generally adopted for convenience, divides 
all wools into combing, clothing and carpet wools. At one time this 
classification was loosely accurate, as only long staple wools could be 
combed. But nowadays it is possible to comb both short staple and 
long staple wool. However, the term combing wool is generally under- 
stood to mean a long staple wool of good quality. All shorter staple 
wools suitable for clothing are grouped under the heading of clothing 
wools. These terms are particularized by adding the breed of the 
sheep and the locality in which the sheep was raised. 

In Australia, where the classification of wool is more nearly on 
a scientific basis than in any other country, merino wools are classified 
as super combing or supers, first combing, second combing, and cloth- 
ing. Crossbreds are classified as comebacks or super crossbreds, first 
crossbred combing, second crossbred combing, and third crossbred 
combing. Pure bred long wool sheep are classified as extra luster 
hoggs and luster wethers. In other countries there are no such defi- 
nite classifications, and wools from these countries are quoted on the 
market in some such loose manner as Argentine high quarter blood or 
Argentine Lincoln. 

In the United States there is a great variety of classifications, but 
none that is accurate or comprehensive. There are a number of terms, 
however, which are in general use in the trade and have a fairly definite 




Here Is Shown a Series of Carding Machines. 

Wool Is Being Fed Into the Nearest One, to Be 

Straightened Out by Thousands of Small Teeth 

on Revolving Drums 



Classification and Marketing of Wool 45 

meaning. For example, Eastern and Middle Western wools are com- 
monly classified as fine delaine, XX, half blood, three-eighths blood 
and quarter blood. Both fine delaine and XX are pure merino wools. 
The other terms, although meaning strictly the proportion of merino 
blood, are used to indicate the quality of the wool without reference 
to the amount of merino blood in the sheep. Wools from the Northwest 
are known as Territory wools and are classified as fine staple, fine 
medium staple and fine medium clothing. Texas wools are classified 
as fine fall, medium fall, twelve months and eight months. California 
wools are classified as spring, northern and fall ; New Mexico wools as 
Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. 

The British method of classification ignores all these subtleties 
and describes wool according to the number of the yarn it will spin, 
such as 40's, 60's, 70's and so on. The meaning of these yarn numbers 
will be described in a later chapter. All wools are quoted on the Eng- 
lish market in this way, without any other qualification except, as a 
rule, the name of the region from which the wool comes, as for 
example, Geelong 60's or Sydney 80's. The 60's wool is taken as a 
standard for purposes of comparison, like Middling Upland cotton or 
Sinshiu No. 1 silk. As the working and spinning qualities of wool are 
the really important things to know about it, this system of classifica- 
tion is about as useful and accurate as any that it is possible to devise. 

All wools sheared from the sheep are known as fleece wools. Most 
of them are sheared from full-grown sheep at regular seasons, but a 
certain proportion of them are obtained at special times and are known 
by special names. Lamb's wool, for instance, is wool sheared from 
sheep less than a year old; hogg or hogget wool is from a year-old 
sheep which has not previously been sheared; wether wool is a term 
applied frequently in the United States to wool from a castrated male 
sheep, but is used elsewhere to mean the wool of any sheep from which 
the hogget fleece has been sheared previously. 

In addition to fleece wools there is a large class of wools obtained 
from the skins of slaughtered sheep and known as pulled wools. Us- 
ually these wools are loosened from the skin by means of sodium sul- 
phate or lime, although in Mazamet, in the South of France, which is 



46 Wool, the World's Comforter 

the center of the world's trade in sheepskins, they are loosened by a 
rotting process. The increasing custom of breeding sheep for mutton 
as well as for wool is leading naturally to an increase in the production 
of pulled wool. On the whole this class of wool is decidedly inferior to 
fleece wool grade for grade. 

In judging the market value of wool the most important considera- 
tions are condition, quality, strength and length of staple, and color. 
The condition of wool refers to the amount of grease and dirt it con- 
tains. All wool contains a certain amount of fatty matter from the 
sheep's skin, as well as dust, burrs, seeds, excrement and other dirt. 
The amount of fatty matter — known as grease or yolk — contained in 
a fleece depends upon the breed of the sheep and the conditions under 
which it has been raised. Wool, therefore, is described as light con- 
ditioned or heavy conditioned, and the percentage of weight it loses 
when it is scoured is known as the shrinkage. The shrinkage of dif- 
ferent classes of wool may vary anywhere from 10 to 75 per cent. 
The average shrinkage of pure English long wools is about 30 per 
cent, of medium crossbreds about 40 per cent, and of pure merinos 
about 50 to 60 per cent. When the price of wool is quoted on a 
scoured basis it means a price based on the estimated shrinkage of 
the wool in scouring. Thus a price of $1 a pound scoured basis for 
merino wool that shrinks 50 per cent would mean a price of 50 cents 
a pound for the same wool in the grease. Quality, as the term is 
used in the raw wool trade, refers to the fineness of the fiber. 

Wool is marketed in a wide variety of ways. In Australia and 
New Zealand the prevailing method of marketing wools is by public 
auction, and this too is the method followed in England for all except 
domestic wools. The auctioning system is followed to a limited extent 
in South Africa, South America and the ranching country of the United 
States, but the method usually practised in these countries is private 
sale by growers to local dealers, manufacturers, or large merchants or 
commission houses in the central markets. London is perhaps the 
world's greatest wool market. Auctions of wool are held there in 
January, March, May, July, September and November. For a long 
time the bulk of Australasian wools were sold at these London auctions, 



Classification and Marketing of Wool 47 

but in recent years the auctions at Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Gee- 
long and Adelaide in Australia and at Wellington, Napier and Christ- 
church in New Zealand have been accounting for most of the Aus- 
tralasian clip, although a considerable amount of the wool sold at 
these auctions is eventually resold in London. 

Liverpool is a great market for South American wools, as well as 
for carpet wools, mohair and alpaca. The auctions are held there in 
the same months as the London auctions, and are timed to start when 
the London auctions close. Antwerp and Bremen are the chief Conti- 
nental wool markets, the former dealing principally in South American 
wools and the latter chiefly in Australian wools. Havre also is of some 
importance as a wool market. In South Africa and South America 
foreign buyers or their representatives purchase the wool direct from 
growers or local dealers, or else do their buying in the open 
markets of Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban, Buenos Ayres, Monte- 
video or other centers. Some of the big growers consign their wool 
unsold to the auctions at Antwerp, Liverpool or London ; but this is 
not a common practice. 

Whether wool is marketed by the auction system, as in Australia, 
or by private treaty, as in the United States, the bulk of it finds its 
way into the hands of big wool merchants in important trading centers. 
These merchants have buying representatives in the principal wool 
markets of the world and often in all the woolgrowing regions as well. 
Not infrequently they finance growers wholly or in part. Sometimes 
they buy the wool outright and sometimes they act merely as com- 
mission agents, buying and selling the wool on commission. There are 
some cases in which mills buy direct from growers and some cases in 
which co-operative organizations of growers act as selling agents for 
their members, but the amount of wool handled in this way is com- 
paratively small. Wool sales all over the world are usually spot trans- 
actions for cash. 

In England there is a class of merchants, called topmakers, who are 
an intermediate step between the wool merchant and the manufacturer. 
Tops is a name applied to wool from which the short and broken fibers 
have been combed out. The topmakers as a rule have the combing 



48 Wool, the World's Comforter 

done for them by firms which make a specialty of such work, and they 
deal only in combed wool. The short and broken fibers rejected in 
the combing are known as noils. The uses of these will be dealt with 
in a later chapter. English dealers and manufacturers for the 
most part buy combing wools on the basis of the yield of tops and noils. 
American and Continental European manufacturers and dealers buy 
wool on the basis of the clean scoured yield. Thus, for example, a price 
of 40 cents a pound for grease wool on the spot would be estimated to 
work out at, say, $1.15 a pound clean landed basis. 

Boston is the principal wool market of the United States. It owes 
this position to its proximity to the woolen manufacturing industry, 
which is centered in New England. Philadelphia and Chicago come 
next in importance. New York also is of some importance because of 
its position as a shipping point and its proximity to many large mills. 



Chapter VI 
Preparatory Manufacturing Processes 

WOOL reaches the mill in fleeces packed in bales of 100 to 
500 pounds each. As the wool from different parts of a 
sheep varies in quality, each fleece contains a number of 
different qualities, and the first process necessary after the wool 
reaches the mill is to sort it out. This is a job requiring not only 
expert knowledge of wool, but an intimate acquaintance with the 
requirements of the mill. Any two equally expert sorters are apt 
to sort the same fleece differently. Again, a mill may sort a fleece 
into four classes, while another mill, making a different type of 
goods, may sort the same fleece into ten classes. Furthermore, 
fleeces from different markets must be sorted differently. An Aus- 
tralian merino fleece, for example, which has been skirted and 
britched before shipment and in which the wool is fairly uniform, 
requires very little sorting, while a dirty, unskirted domestic fleece 
may need a good deal. 

Generally speaking, the best wool is that which comes from the 
shoulders and sides of the sheep. Next in the order of value is that 
from the lower part of the back, the loin and back and the upper 
part of the legs. Wool from the neck, britch, belly, chest, head, 
throat and lower part of legs is all inferior. When the fleece is 
deeply skirted before being shipped to market, as is customary in 
Australia, practically all this inferior wool is removed. A light 
skirting may leave a certain amount of it in the fleece, while an 
unskirted fleece contains all of it. Apart from this rough-and-ready 
classification, the wool sorter has no guide except his own judgment 
and his familiarity with the manufacturer's requirements. 

In the operation of sorting the fleece usually is spread out on a 
table, the center of which is covered with wire netting. Working 
inward from the edges of the fleece, the sorter tears out different 
parts with his hands and places them in separate piles, according to 
the different qualities. The fleece is banged and shaken on the table 

[49] 



50 Wool, the World's Comforter 

so that a good deal of the dust and loose dirt in it falls through the 
wire netting. In addition the sorter removes from the fleece with 
his hands all lumps of dirt, matted fibers, large burrs and other 
roughage which can be removed in this way without too much ex- 
penditure of time and labor. Low grade wools, especially carpet 
wools from Asia and Southeastern Europe, are likely not only to be 
excessively dirty but to contain the germs of anthrax and other 
infectious diseases, so that the sorter has to take great precautions 
in handling them. 

Besides dust, burrs, fodder and other foreign matter, all wools 
contain a considerable proportion of suint or yolk, usually known as 
grease. The latter is partly perspiration and partly a fatty exuda- 
tion from the sheep's body, which seems to serve the purpose of 
protecting the wool on the sheep's back from injury by the weather. 
All dirt and grease must be removed before the wool can be worked 
properly. This is done as a rule by scouring the wool in warm 
water, soap and a mild alkali, such as ammonium carbonate or some 
similar substance. In the process of scouring the wool passes 
through three or four vats filled with the scouring liquid. Each vat 
is equipped with automatic rakes, which stir the wool in the liquid, 
and with a set of rollers which squeeze the liquid from the wool 
before it passes to the next vat. 

Great care and skill are necessary to avoid injury to the wool in 
scouring, as the fibers may easily be injured by too much stirring, by 
water that is a little too hot or an alkali that is a little too strong. 
Some big manufacturers employ what is known as the solvent system 
of scouring. By this system the wool is treated with some chemical 
agent, such as ether, naphtha, benzine, alcohol or carbon bisulphide. 
This system has the advantage of being economical, for the chemical 
solvent, after being distilled, can be used over again and the by- 
products of the scouring can be easily recovered. It also avoids the 
danger of injury to the wool fibers from the stirring about which is 
necessary in the ordinary scouring bath. But it is advantageous 
only to big mills which handle great quantities of wool. 

After the scouring the wool is carried on a belt to the drying 




This Is Part of the Spinning Process. The Wool 

Has Been Straightened and Twisted Into Yarn, 

Which the Picture Shows Being Wound on 

to Bobbins 



Preparatory Manufacturing Processes 53 

chamber, where most of the moisture is removed by bringing it into 
contact with warm air. Sometimes the drying is done by a cen- 
trifugal machine known as a hydro-extractor. Wool is never made 
absolutely dry, for absolutely dry wool tends to kink and curl and 
break in the working. A certain amount of moisture is always 
allowed to remain, the standard allowance being 16 per cent. But 
merino wools, which are comparatively short and curly, are allowed 
to retain more than 16 per cent of moisture, and, in fact, are not 
usually put through any drying process at all. 

When the wool contains large burrs and other matter which does 
not come out in the scouring it is put through a burring machine, 
which picks out the larger impurities. (AVhen the burrs are small 
and numerous and there is a large amount of other vegetable matter 
present, the burring process is not sufficient and the wool must be 
put through a supplementary process known as carbonizing.^' This 
consists of steeping the wool in a solution of sulphuric or hydro- 
chloric acid and subsequently drying it in an oven heated to about 
160 or 170 degrees Fahrenheit. The acid attacks all the vegetable 
matter and reduces it to a state resembling charcoal. Sometimes the 
carbonizing is done with hydrochloric acid gas instead of with an 
acid solution. This method is known as dry carbonizing. The car- 
bonized matter easily crumbles into dust, which may be shaken or 
blown out of the wool. 

After being burred and carbonized the wool is blown through 
pipes or carried on trucks into the carding room. The subsequent 
processes depend largely upon whether it is to be made into woolen 
or worsted goods. Fundamentally the difference between woolens 
and worsteds is that in woolen yarns the fibers intercross and are 
mixed up with one another in a more or less haphazard way, while 
in worsted yarns the fibers all lie parallel to one another. Formerly 
it was practicable to comb only long staple wools, and worsteds con- 
sequently were made only from such wools. But some modern comb- 
ing machines can comb wools of any length, and as a result worsteds 
can be and are made from both long and short staple wools, although 
long staple wools are most commonly used. 



54 Wool, the World's Comforter 

In the woolen trade, and to some extent in the worsted trade, it 
is a common practice to dye the wool after scouring. Yellow-tinted 
and discolored wools, especially if they are intended for goods which 
are to be finished white or dyed in light colors, are sometimes sub- 
mitted to a blueing or bleaching process before dyeing. The blueing 
process for yellow-tinted wools consists in treating them with a 
dilute solution of an acid blue or violet coloring matter, which is 
complementary to the yellow and unites with it to form a neutral 
tint. Wool is bleached usually with sulphur fumes. Sulphurous 
acid and hydrogen peroxide are used also to some extent. 

Whether the wool is dyed in the stock or not, the next process is 
the mixing or blending. This is practised chiefly in the woolen 
trade. Its object is either to obtain a certain quality of yarn from 
certain blends of raw stock or else to produce certain colors. Every 
manufacturer finds by experiment that various blends of wool will 
produce characteristic results, and he develops his own formulas for 
achieving the effects in which he specializes. For certain kinds of 
goods the raw wool is mixed with cotton or shoddy. Sometimes a 
small percentage — as little as 5 per cent — of strong long-staple 
cotton, such as Peruvian cotton, is blended with the woo l in orde r 
to lend strength to warp yarns. / By blending different colors in the 
raw stock, various plain and mixed color effects are obtained in 
the finished goods. 

Either before or after mixing — but usually before — the wool is 
sprayed lightly with oil, so that it will work more smoothly and 
evenly through the machines. Olive oil is used as a rule for this 
purpose. The cotton is then fed to the carding machine. This con- 
sists essentially of two revolving cylinders, both of which are cov- 
ered with fine wire teeth. The wool is fed to these cards automati- 
cally from hoppers. The cylindrical cards revolve in opposite direc- 
tions, so that some of the wool fibers are drawn forward while others 
are drawn back. As a result the mass of wool fed to the carding 
machine is brushed out into a thin flat sheet, resembling a sheet of 
cotton batting. This sheet is condensed into a soft, narrow band or 



Preparatory Manufacturing Processes 55 

rope, known as a roving. It is then wound on large spools or bobbins 
and taken to the spinning room to be spun into yarn. 

For worsted yarns the wool has to go through even more pre- 
paratory processes before it is ready to be spun. As a rule it goes 
first through the various processes already described, including 
carding but excluding blending and dyeing. Long wools of seven 
inches or more in staple are prepared for combing by being placed 
in a preparing box which opens up the wool, combs the fibers apart 
and lays them parallel or nearly so. Shorter wools are carded. In 
either case the wool is fed next to the gilling machine, which 
straightens out the fibers still more. It comes from this machine in 
soft strands, which are taken to the balling machine and made up 
into large balls, each containing four strands. Eighteen of these 
balls make a set for the combing machine. Sometimes before the 
gilling process the wool is submitted to a second scouring operation, 
known as backwashing, in order to remove any dirt that may remain 
after the carding. This is done frequently by topmakers to improve 
the color of the tops. 

The operation of combing consists simply of straightening out 
the fibers and removing the short, broken and knotted ones. Al- 
though it sounds simple in theory, it is a very complicated operation 
in practice, and requires highly specialized machinery. The most 
widely used combing machines are the Noble comb and the French 
or Heilmann comb. The latter is especially adapted for combing 
short wools, and, in fact, it can be adjusted to any length of staple. 
As already mentioned, it is usual to use long staple wool for worsted 
yarns, but for certain purposes, such as knit goods or soft dress 
goods, where a soft, thick yarn is desired, wool of very short staple 
can be used to advantage. The chief object of combing, therefore, 
is to straighten out the fibers and make them clean and uniform. 
From the combing machine the wool comes in the form of a fine 
sliver known as a top. The broken, short, knotted and otherwise 
imperfect fibers removed by the comb are known as noils. These 
are sold to woolen spinners and mixed with raw stock to be spun 
into woolen yarns. 



56 Wool, the World's Comforter 

A number of slivers from the combing machine are combined into 
one and run through gill boxes, where they are combed again and 
reduced to strands of uniform size. These strands are wound into 
large balls, which are known as finished tops. They are then ready 
for the spinning room. Sometimes the wool is dyed before being 
sent to the spinning room — or dyed in the top, as it is called in the 
trade. In this case it comes back to be gilled and recombed before 
it is ready to be spun. 






Chapter VII 
Spinning Woolen and Worsted Yarns 

SPINNING is the process by which the wool is drawn out and 
twisted into thread. In the modern mill, however, the drawing 
and twisting are done for the most part by separate machinery, 
so that the term spinning is applied merely to the twisting part of 
the process. The amount of drawing given to the wool before it is 
spun depends upon the size and nature of the yarns required. Gen- 
erally speaking, a lot of drawing is done for worsted yarns and very 
little for woolen yarns. The strand or sliver of wool from the 
finished worsted top may be subjected to as many as nine drawing 
processes, each of which draws it out a little finer. In the final 
drawing process, it is given usually a very slight twist; although 
when a soft worsted yarn is to be produced this twist is omitted. 
After it has come through the drawing machine the worsted strand 
is known as a roving. For woolen yarns the sheets of wool which 
come from the carding machine are reduced, by means of a machine 
called a condenser, into soft strands, known also as roving. 

Woolen yarns, and some worsted yarns, are subjected to a further 
drawing in the spinning process proper. The original method of 
spinning, presumably, was to draw out the wool into strands with 
the fingers and twist it into thread. If one will do this with a piece 
of cotton wool, for example, one will have a practical illustration 
of the fundamental principle of spinning. This method of course 
was extremely tedious, and eventually somebody hit upon the idea 
of using a stick instead of the fingers for twisting the thread. The 
stick was operated by twirling it with the palm of the hand against 
the thigh. In order that it might revolve more easily and rapidly a 
piece of stone, metal or other heavy substance was attached to the 
top of it. Such was the primitive spindle, used the world over until 
comparatively modern times. 

The first important improvement was the invention of the spin- 
ning wheel. This originated in India probably — at what period is 
not known — and it made its first appearance in Europe toward the 

[57] 



58 Wool, the World's Comforter 

end of the fifteenth century. It consisted of a spindle to twist the 
thread, a wheel to turn the spindle and wind the finished yarn, and a 
distaff to hold the raw material. At first the distaff was held in the 
hand or stuck in the belt of the spinner, but later it was attached to 
the machine. Eventually the machine was operated by a treadle 
instead of by hand. No further improvement in the art of spinning 
was made until 1764, when James Hargreaves of Blackburn, Eng- 
land, invented a machine known as the spinning jenny. In principle 
this machine was the same as the old spinning wheel, except that it 
twisted several threads at one time. 

So far the operations of drawing and twisting had always been 
conducted simultaneously, and this principle was adhered to in the 
Hargreaves spinning jenny. But in 1769 a spinning machine on a 
totally different principle was invented by a man named Arkwright 
in Preston, England. In the Arkwright water frame, as it was 
called, the material was first drawn out to the required fineness by 
a series of rollers, each running faster than the one behind it, and 
was then twisted to the required degree. It is important to remem- 
ber that worsted yarns are spun on the new principle embodied in 
the Arkwright machine, while woolen yarns are spun on the old 
principle embodied in the Hargreaves machine. In other words, 
worsted yarns are first drawn out and then spun, while woolen yarns 
are drawn and spun at the same time. 

In 1779 Samuel Crompton of Bolton, England, gave to the world 
a new machine called the Crompton mule, which combined the best 
features of both the Hargreaves and the Arkwright machines — hence 
its name. The spindles of the mule are mounted on a movable 
carriage which works back and forth, drawing the strands of wool 
as they are paid out by the rollers, twisting them into yarn and 
winding the yarn on bobbins. All woolen yarns, and some soft 
worsted yarns, are spun on the mule type of machine. For spinning 
woolen yarns the machine is equipped with only one set of rollers, 
which merely feed the roving to the spindles. The drawing is done 
by the spindles as they move away from the rollers, twisting the 
roving into yarn. 




This Picture Shows Part of a Mule Spinning 
Room. The Part of the Machine in the Fore- 
ground Moves Back and Forth, Drawing Out and 
Twisting the Yarn. 



Spinning Woolen and Worsted Yarns 61 

In spinning worsted yarns the roving is drawn out through a series 
of rollers, as in the Arkwright machine, and then twisted into yarn. 
Nowadays, however, the mule is used for worsted spinning only when 
soft yarns are desired, such as yarns for fine knit goods and certain 
fine dress goods. Most worsted yarns are spun on a type of machine 
known as a cap-frame or ring-frame spinner. It was invented by 
Richard Roberts in 1835 and has since been subjected to various 
improvements which have made it the most rapid and economical 
type of spinning machine. The essential- difference between this 
type of spinner and the mule is that the spindles of the former are 
stationary. The cap-frame is faster than the ring-frame, but pro- 
duces a somewhat rougher yarn. Both spin a much harder yarn than 
the mule. 

Woolen and worsted yarns, like cotton yarns, are numbered ac- 
cording to size, but unfortunately there are various systems of 
numbering used in different countries and there is no standard 
system which is generally recognized. In the United States woolen 
yarns are numbered, as a rule, either according to the "American 
run" system or the "Philadelphia cut" system. The former is based 
on the number of runs of 1600 yards that weigh a pound. Thus, if 
a run of 1600 yards weighs one pound the yarn is known as a No. 1, 
while if ten runs of 1600 yards, or 16,000 yards, weigh one pound, the 
yarn is known as a No. 10. The Philadelphia system is based on 
the number of cuts of 300 yards that weigh one pound. Thus a yarn 
weighing ten cuts, or 3000 yards, to the pound would be a No. 10 
yarn. According to the English system the number of a woolen 
yarn is the number of skeins or hanks of 1520 yards each that weigh 
six pounds. There are also French, Prussian, Viennese and other 
systems of numbering woolen yarns. 

For worsted yarns there is a nearer approach to a standard 
system of numbering. The accepted system in England and the 
United States is based on the number of hanks of 560 yards that 
weigh one pound. Thus, if one hank of 560 yards weighs a pound 
the yarn is known as a No. 1, while if it takes ten hanks, or 5600 
yards, to weigh a pound the yarn is known as a No. 10 — and so on. 



62 Wool, the World's Comforter 



Obviously the higher the number the finer the yarn. Worsted yarns 
have been spun as high as 140's, but it is practically impossible 
nowadays to find wool that will spin higher than 100's. 

Worsted yarns below 40's are described as coarse; yarns from 
40's to 60's as medium, and yarns from 60's to 100's as fine. But 
the number of the yarn does not strictly define its quality, as some 
very fine, soft, mule-spun worsted yarns are of comparatively low 
count. In England, yarns spun from Australian merino wool are 
commonly known as Botany yarns, from the fact that the first 
English colony in Australia was known as Botany Bay. Frequently 
two or more worsted yarns are twisted into one yarn, which is called 
a ply yarn. Ply yarns are designated according to the number of 
the single yarn, prefixed by a sub-number indicating the ply. For 
example, two 60's yarns twisted into one would be designated as 
2/60's, three 60's yarn twisted into one as 3/60's, and so on. 

Woolen and worsted yarns come from the spinning machines 
wound on cops, tubes or spindles. In this form they are ready for 
the weaver. To a certain extent spinning and weaving are separate 
divisions of the wool goods industry, but the division is not exact. 
Some mills do spinning only; some do weaving only, getting their 
yarns on contract from spinners or in the open market; some do 
both spinning and weaving; while many mills which do both spinning 
and weaving may sell some of their yarn output to other mills or may 
buy extra supplies or special qualities from outside spinners. There is 
consequently an open market for yarns, and the fluctuations of this 
market furnish a fair index of the trend of demand for goods. 



Chapter VIII 
The Weaving Processes 

IT is probable that weaving is the oldest of all textile processes, 
and that it began with the first attempts of primitive man to 

weave twigs into mats or baskets. In handling twigs it was easy 
enough to interlace them with the fingers and without the aid of any- 
other device. But when an attempt was made to weave soft fibers, 
like wool, it became necessary to stretch a certain number of them 
between fixed objects, so as to form a groundwork through which 
other threads could be interwoven. Thus was born the first loom 
and, crude as it was, it embodied the basic principle upon which all 
subsequent looms have been built. Essentially weaving is based on 
the principle of a fixed groundwork of threads, known as the warp, 
through which by various devices are interwoven other threads, known 
as the weft or filling. 

At first the filling threads were interlaced alternately with the 
warp threads by hand, much like the method used in darning stock- 
ings. This was a painfully slow process. Eventually, however, some- 
body hit upon the idea of attaching alternate warp threads to a 
movable piece of wood, by which the set of warp threads attached to 
it could be raised and lowered, while the remaining warp threads 
remained stationary. This device, which is known as a heddle, made 
it possible to pass the filling thread much more rapidly through the 
warp threads. In addition, the invention of the heddle made it pos- 
sible to attach the filling thread to some heavy object and throw it 
through the warp, instead of pulling it through by hand. After each 
filling thread had been shot through the warp it was pushed into 
place beside the preceding one by means of a stick. 

In the course of time various improvements were made in this 
original loom. The heddles were developed so that they could be 
worked by foot treadles. The filling threads were wound on bobbins 
and placed inside hollow shuttles which were thrown through the warp, 
unwinding the thread as they moved. The warp threads were wound 

[63] 



64 Wool, the World's Comforter 

on a beam placed at one end of the loom, while another beam at the 
opposite end of the loom took up the finished cloth as it was woven. 
This made it possible to weave various lengths of cloth on the one 
loom. The stick for beating up the filling threads into place was 
developed into a comb-like affair, called a reed, which did the work 
more surely and evenly. All the movements of this loom were 
controlled by hand, except the raising and lowering of the heddies, 
which were controlled by foot treadles. 

An important innovation, which seems to have been developed in 
the East during the early centuries of the Christian era, and which 
was brought to Europe; from Damascus by the Crusaders, was what 
is known as the draw loom. This was a device for facilitating the 
repetition of a pattern. The number of threads in the warp was 
divided into as many sections as there were repetitions of the 
pattern. The similarly numbered threads from each section were 
combined and fastened to a cord. When this cord was drawn it 
lifted all the corresponding threads of every section. 

No further important improvements were made in the loom 
until the middle of the eighteenth century, when its mechanism was 
revolutionized by a number of inventions. The first of these was the 
flying shuttle, a device for driving the shuttle through the warp 
mechanically instead of by hand, which was invented in 1738 by 
John Kay, a native of Bolton, Lancashire. His son, Robert, invented 
in 1760 a device known as a drop box, to hold several shuttles 
with threads of different colors, Which made possible quicker 
changes in weaving cloths of more than one color. In the latter 
year a new kind of loom, known as the swivel loom, was introduced 
into England from Holland. This made possible the weaving of 
several narrow pieces of cloth at the same time. Soon afterward 
came the harness-loom containing several sets of heddies, each set 
attached to a frame called the harness, by which they could be raised 
and lowered. 

In the harness loom the heddies consist of cords or wires suspended 
in a frame. Each heddle is fitted with an eyelet or loop, and through 
each of these eyelets or loops a warp thread is passed. For a plain 



The Weaving Processes 65 

weave only two harness frames are used, the warp threads being 
passed alternately through the heddle eyelets of each frame. For 
twill and satin weaves three, four or five harness frames may be used, 
so that one speaks of three- or four-harness twills, or five-harness 
satins, etc. For fancy weaves a large number of harness frames may 
be used. The harness loom is used for weaving all kinds of plain and 
fancy fabrics, except those embodying very intricate and elaborate 
patterns, which are woven usually on a Jacquard loom. 

The latter machine was invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard, of 
Lyons, France, and was first exhibited at the Paris Exposition of 
1801. Essentially it is a development of the draw loom, already 
mentioned. Every thread in the warp is drawn through an independent 
heddle eyelet. A number of heddles containing one thread from each 
repeat in the pattern are gathered together into what is known as 
a lash. Each lash is fastened to a hook by which it is raised or lowered. 
The raising or lowering of the hooks is controlled by means of holes 
punched in cards, after the manner of a player piano. 

It was well into the nineteenth century before either water-power 
or steam-power was applied to weaving on any considerable scale. 
Actually, the power loom was invented by Edmund Cartwright, an 
English preacher, toward the end of the eighteenth century; but 
partly because of imperfections in the mechanism and partly because 
of opposition from the textile industry it made its way very slowly. 
The idea of dressing the warp with a sizing before placing it in the 
loom and the invention of a mechanism for taking up the slack of 
the cloth in weaving — both introduced by William Radcliffe in 1803 — 
made the power loom more practical, and by the year 1815 it was 
being used generally in the cotton industry, although it was not 
adopted to any considerable extent in the woolen and worsted in- 
dustry until about twenty years later. Since then the loom has been 
improved by the addition of various devices until it has become an 
almost completely automatic machine of high efficiency. The modern 
loom stops automatically when a thread breaks or the filling in the 
shuttles is exhausted, so that it requires practically no attention and 
involves the use of very little labor. 



66 Wool, the World's Comforter 

But while little labor is involved in the weaving of cloth, a good 
deal is involved in preparing the yarns for the loom. The manner 
in which yarns are prepared for the loom depends upon whether they 
are to be used as warp or filling. Warp yarns are wound on spools 
by means of a machine called a spooler. As many of these spools 
as there are to be warp threads in the proposed fabric are placed in 
a large frame, called a creel, where the yarn is unwound from them 
and wound regularly and evenly on a beam, known as the warp beam. 
This process is known as warping. Before the warp yarns are placed 
in the loom they are usually immersed in a sizing solution in order 
to give them more strength, stiffness and smoothness. In passing 
through this solution they are unwound from the warp beam and re- 
wound on another beam, known as the weaver's or loom beam. This 
beam is taken to the drawing-in room, where the threads are drawn 
through the heddles in the harness frames and through the wire teeth 
of the reed. The beam and harness are then placed in position in 
the loom, and the ends of the warp are attached to a roller at the 
front of the loom, which takes up the cloth according as it is woven. 
In the meantime, the filling yarns have been wound on bobbins 
which are placed in the shuttles on the loom. The loom is now readj 
to start weaving. 

The variety of operations performed by a loom in weaving a piece 
of cloth depends upon the nature of the weave. In the case of a 
fancy weave, these operations are often bewilderingly intricate, as 
a large number of harnesses may be used, all of which move up and 
down in varied groupings and at varied intervals, according to a pre- 
conceived pattern. Reduced to its simplest terms, however, the process 
of weaving may be described briefly as follows: The shuttles fly back 
and forth, weaving the weft threads over and under the warp threads 
as the latter are raised and lowered by the harnesses. After each 
passage of the shuttle the reed is carried forward, pushing the weft 
thread into place — thus tightening up the weave, so to speak. Ac- 
cording as the cloth is woven it is drawn off and rolled by the taking- 
up roller. 

It can easily be understood that the nature of the weave may be 



The Weaving Processes 69 

varied greatly according to the number of harnesses used and accord- 
ing to the groupings in which the harnesses are raised and lowered. 
While the possible variations in weave are practically unlimited, they 
may all be classified under six main headings: Plain weaves, twill 
weaves, satin weaves, figured or fancy weaves, pile weaves and double 
cloth weaves. Any one of these classifications may include many dif- 
ferent qualities of cloth, and any one of them may be varied so as to 
produce a large number of different effects. 

The most important and the most common of all textile weaves 
is the plain weave, commonly referred to as a one-and-one weave, 
because the weft or filling thread is passed at right angles over and 
under alternate warp threads. This produces a smooth, plain cloth 
of fairly open texture. The closeness of the texture and the smooth- 
ness of the surface depend to a large extent upon the size of the 
yarns used, as well as on the nature of the finish. Woolen cloths, as 
a rule, are fulled or felted in the finish, so that the texture is not 
so readily discernible. A variety of patterns can be produced with 
the plain weave by using yarns of different sizes or dyed yarns of 
different colors. For instance, corded effects in stripes and checks 
may be produced by varying the size of the yarns in the warp or 
weft, or both. Colored stripes are produced by using bands of dyed 
yarns in the warp, and checks and plaids are produced by using dyed 
yarn in the warp and filling. Obviously, it is possible by using dyed 
yarns to obtain an almost unlimited number of different colors. The 
plain weave is used to a considerable extent in the making of staple 
woolens, such as broadcloths, homespuns, meltons and kerseys. 

The most important worsted weave is the twill weave, of which 
serge is the outstanding example. It may be distinguished by the fact 
that it produces fine lines or ribs running diagonally across the cloth. 
In weaving a twill the filling threads do not pass at right angles over 
and under the warp threads at regular intervals, as in the plain weave, 
but at irregular intervals of two, three, four, five or more threads. 
For instance, the filling threads might pass over one warp thread and 
under three, four, five or six, or they might pass over two and under 
one, two, three or four. Every time the filling shuttle goes through 



70 Wool, the World's Comforter 



it passes over and under a different set of warp threads. This is 
what gives the diagonal rib effect. The combinations of this weave 
can be varied almost indefinitely, so as to produce not only diagonal 
rib effects but curved, waved and zig-zag ribs, such as herringbones. 
Additional effects can be introduced, as in the plain weave, by using 
yarns of different sizes or dyed yarns of different colors. 

The satin weave is really a variation of the twill weave, except 
that it is done in such a way as to conceal the twill structure and 
produce a very smooth surface. This effect is obtained by passing 
the filling threads over or under a large number of warp threads — 
anywhere from six to twelve. If, for example, the filling threads are 
passed under one warp thread and over eight or ten warp threads, 
the result is that most of the filling is on the face of the cloth. If, 
on the other hand, the filling threads are passed over one warp 
thread and under eight or ten warp threads, the result is that most 
of the warp is on the face of the cloth. The satin weave is used 
to a very limited extent in the manufacture of wool goods, except 
for fabrics like cotton-warp serges, in which only the worsted 
filling is meant to show on the face of the cloth. 

Figured or fancy weaves are the most intricate of all, and are 
susceptible of endless variations. As the name indicates, they are 
used to achieve figured patterns on the cloth. The most elaborate 
and complicated patterns are woven usually on a Jacquard loom, and 
are often referred to as Jacquard weaves. Brocades are woven in 
this way. Less intricate patterns are woven on dobby looms, while 
the more simple patterns, such as stripes and herringbones, are woven 
on plain looms in plain or twill weaves. The difference between a 
dobby loom and a plain loom is that the former has a larger number 
of harnesses, which are operated in a somewhat different way. Also 
the dobby loom may be equipped with several shuttles, each holding 
yarn of a different color, the proper shuttle being selected automat- 
ically according to the pattern by means of a device known as the 
box motion. 

The pile weave is not, strictly speaking, a separate weave, but 
is a variation of the plain weave. There are several ways of weaving 



The Weaving Processes 71 

a pile fabric, the most common being what is known as the terry 
motion (from the French tirer, meaning to draw or pull). In weaving 
pile fabrics by the terry motion an extra set of warp threads is 
introduced. These are left slack in the loom, so that the reed in beat- 
ing up the filling threads draws the slack warp threads into loops. 
Subsequently the loops are cut open at the top, or else are left uncut. 
The same result is sometimes obtained by carrying the extra warp 
threads across wires laid parallel to the filling threads. Still another 
method of weaving a pile fabric is by using extra filling threads in 
the shuttles. These are not carried all the way across the cloth, like 
the regular filling threads, but are floated to the surface at intervals, 
making a loose pile. 

Finally, pile fabrics may be produced by means of the double- 
cloth weave. This is done by weaving two cloths on the loom at the 
same time and combining them into one by interlacing some of the 
warp and filling threads of one into the other during the process of 
weaving. When pile fabrics are being made in this way the two 
cloths are cut apart by a sharp knife as fast as they are woven, 
leaving a pile on one side of each cloth. The double-cloth weave is 
used also to produce a double-faced cloth, or a cloth with different 
patterns on either side, or a heavy cloth with a cheaper material on 
the back than on the face. In such cases, of course, the cloths are 
closely interwoven, and are not cut apart subsequently. Pile weaves 
are not much used for wool goods, the pile effect being obtained 
usually by a finishing process known as napping. The double-cloth 
weave is used for beavers, chinchillas and the like. 



Chapter IX 
Dyeing and Finishing 

WHILE variations in weave constitute the chief method of 
varying the appearance of cloth, there is a wide range of 
different effects which may be produced by variations in 
color and finish. Color is applied to wool goods chiefly by dyeing. 
Printing is used to a very limited extent. Both dyeing and printing 
mean, in principle, the application of a coloring substance which 
will combine with the textile in such a manner as to produce a 
certain shade and remain fast under certain conditions. 

Wool differs greatly from cotton in its affinity to dyestuffs. Gen- 
erally speaking, it takes dyestuffs more readily than cotton. Again, 
some dyes that will give a good, strong color to wool will give only 
the faintest tint to cotton and vice versa. The kind of dye used for 
any given fabric depends upon the effect desired, the conditions 
under which the fabric is to be used and, finally, the ideas of the 
dyer as to what is the best dye for these purposes. The variety of 
dyestuffs used in the wool goods industry, therefore, is practically 
unlimited. It may be said, however, that a large proportion of them 
come under the general classification of acid dyes. 

Mordant and vat dyes also are used to a considerable extent. A 
mordant is a substance which has an affinity for both the coloring 
matter and the textile material, and consequently serves to unite 
them closely. Tin and chromium are the mordants used chiefly in 
dyeing wool goods. Mordant dyes, as a rule, are very fast. Vat 
dyes are so called because they are insoluble in water and must be 
specially prepared in large vats, where they are made soluble by 
the addition of some chemical such as hyposulphite. After the 
material has been dyed the colors must be made insoluble again — 
or, in other words, fixed — by the addition of other chemicals. These 
dyes, too, are very fast as a rule. 

Wool goods may be dyed either in the raw stock, in the top, in 
the slubbing, in the yarn or in the piece. The principal reason for 
dyeing wool before it is spun into yarn is that the coloring matter 

[72] 



Dyeing and Finishing 73 

penetrates all the fibers more thoroughly and is more likely to 
remain fast under very trying conditions. For woolen mixtures, the 
raw wool is dyed immediately after scouring, so that mixed color 
effects can be obtained in the yarn. For worsteds the dyeing is 
done for the most part either in the top or the slubbing rather than 
in the raw stock. The chief reason for dyeing yarns is to permit the 
achievement of woven color effects. Cotton warp goods also are 
dyed usually in the yarn, because the cotton and wool take the color 
differently. 

For all solid colored goods piece dyeing is the cheapest and most 
convenient method. Piece-dyed goods are woven with yarns in their 
natural colors and then are passed over rollers through vats con- 
taining the dye liquor. Cross dyeing and speck dyeing are varia- 
tions of the piece-dyeing method. The former is used for cotton 
warp goods which have been woven with undyed wool yarns. Such 
goods are woven usually with colored cotton yarns and white wool 
yarns. They are then piece dyed in a stuff that will color the wool 
without affecting the cotton. Speck dyeing is done to goods which 
contain burrs. If wool contains a large amount of burrs they are 
removed, before the wool is carded or combed, by a chemical process 
known as carbonizing, described in a previous chapter. Otherwise 
they are picked out. But sometimes, when the wool is not carbo- 
nized, a number of burrs remain which are too deeply imbedded in 
the fiber to be picked out without injury to the fiber. These, being 
vegetable matter, take the dye differently than wool and cause 
specks in the cloth. When this happens the cloth, after the regular 
dyeing, is treated to another dye that will color the burrs without 
affecting the wool. 

All dyeing is done by soaking the material to be dyed in the 
coloring liquid. Subsequently the material is rinsed and dried. 
Printing is used instead of dyeing as a more convenient method of 
applying designs in color. Colored designs on cloth, as we have 
already seen, can be obtained by weaving yarns of different colors 
and, thanks to the Jacquard loom, very intricate designs may be 
achieved in this way. But the printing method is much more simple. 



74 Wool, the World's Comforter 

By this method a series of rollers are engraved with the proposed 
design. There is a separate roller for each color, engraved only with 
the part of the design which carries that particular color. The col- 
oring matter applied to each roller is scraped off with a close-fitting 
knife as fast as the roller revolves, remaining only in the engraved 
parts. The cloth is passed over these rollers by means of a revolving 
cylinder, receiving the color impressions as it passes. Printing is 
not used very much for wool goods. In making certain kinds of 
worsteds, however, the combed sliver is sometimes printed before 
it is twisted into yarn. This is known as vigoureux printing. 

If the natural color of the wool is not a clean white, or if the 
wool has acquired stains in the preliminary manufacturing proc- 
esses, it must often be submitted to a bleaching process. This is 
especially true if the goods are to be finished white or dyed in light 
colors. Wool usually is bleached with sulphurous acid. The gen- 
eral method is to pass it in a damp state through a closed chamber 
filled with the fumes from burning sulphur. Sulphurous acid appar- 
ently does not destroy the coloring matter in the textile, but simply 
changes it to white, so that a cloth bleached in this way may even- 
tually revert to its original color. Consequently it is not an ideal 
bleach for white goods. Oxygen, on the other hand, destroys the 
coloring matter entirely, and for this reason some oxygen agent, 
such as hydrogen peroxide, sodium peroxide or potassium permanga- 
nate, often is used instead of sulphurous acid. 

In addition to bleaching and dyeing, wool goods must be put 
through a number of other finishing processes. The nature of these 
processes, of course, depends to a large extent on the nature of the 
finish desired. Generally all wool goods are divided, according to 
finish, into clear-finished goods and face-finished goods. Clear- 
finished goods are those which receive little or no fulling, and which 
therefore show the texture clearly. Most worsteds come in this 
class. Face-finished goods are those which are fulled so that the 
texture of the cloth is not apparent. Broadcloth is a typical example 
of the latter. But whether the cloth is to be fulled or not, it goes 
first through the processes of perching, burling and mending. 




Drawing Warp Threads Through the Heddles in 
the Harnesses, Which Control the Appearance 
of the Weave, as They Move Up and Down Ac- 
cording to the Pattern 



Dyeing and Finishing 71 

Perching is really a method of inspection. The perch consists of 
two horizontal rollers about four feet apart, suspended from the 
ceiling near a window. The cloth is stretched over these rollers and 
the inspector stands between them, so that he can pull down the 
cloth bit by bit and examine it against the light for defects. These 
defects are marked with chalk, and the cloth then goes to the burlers, 
who spread it out on stands and remove knots, bunches and loose 
threads by means of burling irons and scissors. Any defects which 
may have escaped the inspector are likely to be discovered by the 
burlers and these, too, are marked with chalk for the menders. Fine 
cloth usually is submitted to an additional inspection after the 
burlers get through with it. Then it goes to the menders, who repair 
any remediable defects by darning. In case the goods are not to be 
fulled they are then singed, in order to remove any fuzz which may 
appear on the surface. Subsequently the goods are scoured, in order 
to remove the oil with which the wool was treated before spinning, 
the sizing applied to the warp before weaving, and any other foreign 
matter which the fabric may have acquired during the process of 
manufacture. Sometimes, however, this scouring is omitted, as a 
certain amount of securing is included in the fulling process. 

Fulling is a process peculiar to the wool industry, and it owes 
its origin to the characteristic felting or matting quality of the wool 
fiber. The wool fiber is covered with minute scales, so that when a 
number of fibers are pressed together they tend to interlock. This 
interlocking is intensified by the application of moisture and heat, 
which causes the fibers to shrink. Fulling is merely a process by 
which the fibers in a piece of cloth are made to mat or felt by the 
application of moisture, pressure and heat. Obviously, it gives 
the fabric greater strength and body, and this is primarily the 
purpose for which it is used. It is used, too, to give the fabric a 
certain characteristic feel and appearance. Also, unfortunately, it 
may be used to give good body, feel and appearance to inferior 
fabrics and to cover up defects in the texture. 

The fulling process consists of saturating the cloth with hot 
water and soap and passing it between slowly revolving rollers. 



78 Wool, the World's Comforter 

Heat is generated by the friction of the rollers. The cloth may 
remain in the fulling mill anywhere from two to eighteen hours, 
depending upon the amount of fulling required. Worsteds receive 
comparatively little fulling, whereas broadcloths, or cloths which 
are to get a napped finish, are very closely fulled. Cloth will shrink 
in this process anywhere from 10 to 25 per cent, according to the 
amount of fulling it receives. 

In order to make up for this shrinkage, and also in order to lend 
body to inferior goods, flocks are sometimes fulled into the goods. 
Flocks are small bits of wool fiber obtained either by shearing the 
nap off goods in the finishing room or else by cutting up or grinding 
up rags. When they are employed to obtain a closer felt in goods 
of sound quality their use is not open to criticism; but when they 
are used to give body and the appearance of superior wearing qual- 
ity to inferior fabrics, they are, of course, misleading, since they do 
not add to the wearing quality of cloth. Their presence in a piece 
of cloth may be detected by brushing the back of it vigorously with 
a stiff brush. Some of them will come out in the brushing. 

After the fulling has been completed the goods are washed, 
stretched and dried. Subsequently some goods, chiefly dress goods, 
are put through a process known as crabbing, the purpose of which 
is to set the goods. In the crabbing process the cloth is wound tight 
on a cylinder which revolves in hot water. Then it is taken out for 
one or two hours, after which it is returned to the machine for 
about twenty-five minutes, during which it is boiled and pressed. 
Next comes the process of gigging or napping. The cloth in a tightly 
stretched condition is passed over revolving cylinders equipped 
with teasels or wire teeth which scratch up the short fibers to the 
surface and produce a nap. The teasels used in the gigging machine 
are the dried flower heads of a plant of that name, and are about the 
shape of pine cones. Strictly speaking, the term gigging is applied 
only to the process of raising a nap with the teasel gig, while the 
term napping refers to the process of raising a nap with the wire- 
toothed napping machine. The teasel gig is generally considered 
superior to the napping machine for this purpose. 



Dyeing and Finishing 79 

The amount of napping given to the cloth depends upon the kind 
of finish required. Some get a superficial napping and some a deep 
napping. Where a very soft nap is required, the cloth may be put 
through the gig or napping machine several times, part of the nap 
being cropped or sheared after each napping. After the napping is 
completed the nap is brushed up and sheared to make it even. If a 
smooth, lustrous finish is desired, the cloth is pressed between heated 
calender rollers, and subsequently steam is forced through it at 
high pressure. This process is applied chiefly to men's wear goods. 
Women's wear goods usually get a water finish. This consists of 
brushing the face of the goods with water by means of a machine 
known as a wet gig, after which they are stretched and pressed. 
There are various other kinds of special finishes used for different 
kinds of goods. They are too numerous to be described here. But 
in general, the processes already described are those applied to the 
great majority of woolen and worsted fabrics. 

Before the cloth is ready for shipment it is subjected to a final 
inspection for defects. All remediable defects are then remedied, 
and the cloth is marked firsts or seconds, according to the number 
of defects it contains. There is no hard and fast rule as to what 
constitutes firsts and seconds. Every manufacturer has his own 
standard. But on the average six defects are allowed in a piece of 
goods classifiable as firsts, while a piece containing more than six 
defects is classified as seconds. Subsequent to this final inspection 
the goods are measured, rolled and packed for shipment. 



Chapter X 
Manufacture and Use of Shoddy 

SHODDY is a term so widely used and misused that the average 
person, even the average wool goods buyer, has a very loose 
notion of what it really is. But for a long time the question 
of shoddy versus virgin wool has been the subject of so much 
discussion and agitation in the public prints and the halls of Con- 
gress that a clear understanding of the meaning of the term has 
become important. Especially is it important for the buyer and user 
of wool goods to know in what way the use of shoddy impairs the 
wearing quality of a fabric. 

Originally, shoddy means anything that is shod or shed, and, 
strictly speaking, it covers all wool fibers that are shed in the 
process of manufacture. Thus it would properly include noils and 
the various forms of waste broken off by or entangled in the comb- 
ing, drawing and spinning machinery. In modern trade usage, 
however, the term shoddy is used to describe reworked wool; that is 
to say, wool which previously has been manufactured into yarns or 
fabrics. Virgin wool, on the other hand, is wool which never has 
been submitted to any manufacturing process. 

Obviously, there are many different grades of shoddy, according 
to the variety and quality of the stock from which it has been 
reworked. Contrary to a widespread impression, fostered by the 
propaganda of those who, for one reason or another, are opposed to 
the use of shoddy, it is not a product obtained by grinding up an 
indiscriminate mass of rags. The raw material of shoddy consists 
of waste yarns, clippings of new wool fabrics gathered in mills and 
clothing factories and old wool rags. Shoddy obtained from very 
hard woven woolens and worsteds is inferior to that obtained from 
soft woven or knit goods — everything else being equal — and it is 
often referred to as mungo. Shoddy obtained by untwisting waste 
yarns or yarns from knit goods is often referred to as garnetted 
stock. 

[80] 



Manufacture and Use of Shoddy 81 

All the materials from which shoddy is made are sorted accord- 
ing to the quality of the fiber that may be obtained from them. 
Roughly speaking, four conditions are observed in the sorting: The 
purity of the material, the length of the fiber, the structure of the 
weave and the color. The purity of the material refers to whether 
it is all pure, virgin wool or contains a percentage of reworked wool, 
cotton or silk. The length of fiber is an important consideration 
because it helps to determine the quality of wool in the material. 
The structure of the weave is important because a loosely spun and 
loosely woven material is easier to rework without injury to the 
fiber than a hard-woven or felted material. Finally, the colors 
have to be considered because some of them are fast and some will fade 
in the process of reworking; some of the materials can be redyed and 
some cannot. 

Generally speaking, the best materials for reworking are knit 
goods, all wool merinos, worsteds, serges and flannels — in about the 
order named. Most of these are made exclusively from virgin wool 
of good quality, and none of them will contain more than a small 
percentage of shoddy. Next in value come woolen cloths, jerseys, 
cloakings and felted woolens. These will contain a considerable 
percentage of reworked wool, and some of them a large percentage. 
In the lowest category are included unions, delaines and carpets. 
These classifications, of course, are modified according to whether 
the materials are new or old and according to the kind of fiber used 
in them. 

Shoddy materials are sorted according to grade by dealers who 
make a specialty of this work, and are sold in graded lots to con- 
verters. The converter is the man who turns them into fiber suit- 
able for spinning and weaving. The different processes used in the 
conversion of these materials are known as carbonizing; baking and 
dusting; washing, stripping and dyeing; conditioning; picking and 
shredding. These processes vary somewhat in different plants; but 
in general, the progress of the materials through the converting 
plant may be described as follows: 

After being cleaned, wherever necessary to remove dirt or grease, 



82 Wool, the World's Comforter 

the materials are subjected to a chemical bath in order to disin- 
tegrate the cotton or silk which may be mixed with the wool. In the 
case of cotton fiber, which is most often present, the carbon in the 
cotton is released by the application of an acid, and the process 
consequently is known as carbonizing. The chemicals generally 
used are sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, or bisulphate of soda. 
In the case of a silk mixture, a caustic alkali is used. The percentage 
of silk-mixed wool fabrics, however, is very small. 

After carbonizing, the acid which the materials have absorbed 
is removed by means of a centrifugal machine known as a whizzer. 
The materials are then baked at a very high temperature, which 
reduces the carbonized cotton to a condition of dust, and this dust 
is taken out by a machine known as a duster, or willow. Subse- 
quently, the materials are washed in a mild solution of soda ash in 
order to neutralize whatever acid may remain in them. This wash- 
ing has the further effect of removing any dirt or dust that may be 
left after willowing. The materials then are wrung out and dried 
at a moderate temperature. 

By this time the fugitive colors have been faded by the acid bath 
and the baking. So it is necessary to sort out the faded materials 
and further reduce the color in them so that they can be redyed to 
uniform shades. This reducing process is known as stripping and 
is accomplished by the application of a chemical. Soda hydralite, 
bichromate of potash and sulphuric or oxalic acid are most generally 
used for this purpose. The materials then are dyed in the usual 
manner. White and fast-dyed materials, of course, do not need 
stripping or dyeing. 

The next process in the conversion of shoddy is known as condi- 
tioning. It consists of lubricating the fibers so as to make them 
soft and supple, and consequently in better condition for carding 
and spinning. The materials are spread out in thin layers, sprinkled 
liberally with oil or an oil emulsion, and left to soak for twenty-four 
to forty-eight hours. The materials now are loose and pliable, free 
from foreign matter, and ready to be teazed out or shredded. This 
is done by a picking machine similar to that used on raw cotton or 




Close-Up of a Shearing Machine in a Great 

Woolen Establishment. Note the Piles of 

Cloth Where It Has Left the Machine 



Manufacture and Use of Shoddy 85 

raw wool. Sometimes, the process of shredding is carried further 
by putting the materials through a carding machine, known in the 
shoddy industry as a garnetting machine. 

All the processes to which shoddy is subjected are the same as 
those used in the preparation of virgin wool, except that the virgin 
wool is scoured and does not have to be stripped before dyeing. 
After the shoddy has come through the picking and garnetting proc- 
esses it is all pure wool fiber, varying in length and strength accord- 
ing to the material from which it has been recovered and the extent 
to which this material has previously been worn. The shoddy now 
is in a spinnable state. Usually it is mixed with virgin wool before 
being spun into yarn; but sometimes it is mixed with cotton and 
sometimes it is spun into yarn without being mixed with any other 
material. 

The quality of a shoddy fabric depends, as already remarked, 
upon the grade of shoddy used, the grade of virgin wool used, the 
percentage of shoddy to virgin wool in the fabric and the skill with 
which the manufacturer manipulates the shoddy. Because of the 
shortness of fiber it is difficult to work shoddy satisfactorily, but by 
careful experimentation many mills have overcome the technical 
difficulties of manipulating shoddy and are able to produce shoddy 
materials that compare favorably with the best materials made from 
virgin wool. 

Of course it is important to remember that a given grade of 
shoddy is not by any means as valuable as a corresponding grade 
of virgin wool. But it is important also to remember that the 
amount of shoddy or virgin wool in a fabric does not of itself indi- 
cate the quality of the fabric, since some grades of shoddy are very 
much superior to some grades of virgin wool. Experiments con- 
ducted some time ago with three grades of wool by the Bureau of 
Standards of the U. S. Department of Commerce demonstrated the 
fact that a fabric made from reworked wool of the first grade was 
superior to a fabric made from virgin wool of the second grade and 
very much superior to a fabric made from virgin wool of the third 
grade. It was demonstrated also that wool of the first grade could 



86 Wool, the World's Comforter 

be reworked four or five times before it would be as low in quality 
as virgin wool of the third grade. 

As to the amount of shoddy consumed in this country, opinions 
differ. The most reliable estimates indicate that about 20 per cent 
of the wool fiber used by the domestic woolen and worsted industries 
is shoddy. Practically all of this is consumed by the woolen indus- 
try. The amount of shoddy consumed by the worsted industry is 
little more than one per cent. The lower grades of shoddy are used 
to a very slight extent in the United States. 

Shoddy is used for the most part in felted woolens and blankets. 
Some overcoatings, such as meltons and chinchillas, are made largely 
or entirely of shoddy, and some of these have excellent appearance 
and wearing quality. It is unquestionable that many shoddy fabrics 
are practically worthless, and that shoddy is used sometimes by 
unscrupulous manufacturers to make an inferior fabric which can 
be palmed off on unwary buyers as a good one. But as a rule shoddy 
is used legitimately to make a good, warm, durable fabric which can 
be sold at a much lower price than a fabric of equal quality made 
altogether from virgin wool. On i;his subject a special report on 
the shoddy industry of England and France, published some years 
ago by the Department of Commerce, makes the following comment: 

"A hundred years ago, wool waste and old rags were disposed of 
by burning or by being used as fertilizers; but now they enter 
largely into the clothing requirements of the world, and by their 
cheapening effect have done much to popularize woolen clothing for 
the masses. The increasing use of waste materials and of the by- 
products of manufacture is a sign of the increasing economic effi- 
ciency of mankind, and as the world is rapidly becoming more and 
more crowded, the economic use of all available fibers will become 
of more and more importance." 



Chapter XI 
Mohair, Alpaca and Other Fibers 

WHILE wool generally is understood to mean the hair of 
sheep it has a much wider meaning scientifically. Strictly 
speaking, all animals are provided with a covering either 
of feathers or of hair. There are various kinds of hair, such 
as bristle hair, beard hair and wool hair. Beard hair is the main 
covering of aboriginal sheep and goats. In addition to beard hair, 
these animals have a certain amount of soft, downy hair, or wool 
hair, and by careful breeding through many generations, as in the 
case of domesticated sheep, this wool hair has been developed until 
it has supplanted the beard hair largely or altogether. 

In chemical composition wool hair and true hair are alike; but 
they have certain physical differences. • The essential difference is 
that wool hair, viewed microscopically, is covered with a number of 
miniature scales, while these scales are lacking in true hair. All 
scaly hairs, therefore, are strictly classifiable as wool. In addition 
to the hair of domesticated sheep, this classification includes the 
hair of certain goats, of camels and dromedaries, and of a species of 
South American animal known scientifically as auchcnia and popu- 
larly as camel sheep. 

The wool of sheep differs from the wool of other animals in the 
same classification chiefly by the fact that it is more wavy and that 
the scales on the fiber have distinctly raised or serrated edges, 
whereas in the wool of other animals the scales tend to fit smoothly 
into one another, with comparatively slight serrations or no per- 
ceptible serrations at all. This distinction, of course, is not exact, 
since certain kinds of sheep's wool, such as the luster wools from 
pure bred Lincolns and Leicesters, approach in character the wools 
of the goat family, just as some of the latter are virtually indistin- 
guishable from true hair. 

Generally, however, it may be said that sheep's wool is more 
wavy and serrated than other wools, and it is these qualities which 

[87] 



88 Wool, the World's Comforter 

give it its superior value for textile purposes. Next in value come 
the wools of certain cultivated varieties of goat, chiefly the Angora, 
Cashmere and Thibet goats. Apparently, goat's hair has been used 
for textile purposes from very ancient times. We find it among the 
materials which Moses commanded his followers to take with them 
in the flight from Egypt, and we learn from Exodus (XXXVI, 14) 
that "the wise workmen wove eleven curtains of goat wool, thirty 
ells long, four ells broad, all of the same size." In later times, as 
we gather from Aristotle and other ancient writers, goats were culti- 
vated expressly for their wool, notably in that part of Asia Minor 
known as Phrygia. 

The ancient Phrygia included the modern Turkish province of 
Angora, which has become famous as the home of the Angora or 
mohair goat. Fabrics made from mohair were introduced to West- 
ern Europe during the sixteenth century and grew so steadily in 
popularity that the Turkish Government, in order to retain a 
monopoly of this valuable trade, forbade the export of raw mohair, or 
tiftik, as it is called in Turkey. This embargo was maintained until 
1820, when it was lifted through the influence of the British Govern- 
ment. During the ensuing years the manufacture of mohair fabrics 
became an important industry in Western Europe, and the increas- 
ing demand for mohair led to the crossing of the original pure 
Angora with the common Kurd goat. 

As a result, the production of mohair spread from the province 
of Angora throughout Asia Minor generally, and was introduced 
into Cape Colony, Australia, South America and the United States. 
At the present time Asia Minor and Cape Colony are the two chief 
sources of the world's supply of mohair. The United States is next 
in importance, although its production is not nearly sufficient for 
the needs of the domestic industry. American mohair, on the whole, 
is inferior to the foreign product, because it contains a larger 
amount of kempy fiber (beard hairs) which will not dye, and because 
most of it must be shorn twice a year, so that it is shorter in staple. 
Texas produces the finest fleeces, but unfortunately the wool of 
Texas Angora tends to fall off if it is allowed to grow an entire 




Close-Up of a Loom in a Big Weaving Mill, Show- 
ing the Woven Cloth Being Wound on the Roller 
at Bottom, as It Is Finished 



Mohair, Alpaca and Other Fibers 91 



year, and consequently it must be shorn before it has reached its 
full length. Oregon fleeces grow for a full year and are very long 
in staple, but are not as fine as the best Texas grades. 

Mohair is a hard, fine fiber, of very long staple (sometimes as 
long as 12 inches), with a high, silky luster and with little or no 
curl. It is of a hard, wiry nature; the scales on its surface are 
thin and flat, and it will not felt to any considerable extent. Length 
and luster are the chief considerations in judging its value. The 
natural color of mohair is a pure white, but sometimes it is gray. 
It does not take dyes as readily as sheep's wool, and dyestuffs, fur- 
thermore, are apt to give it a harsher feel. The finest mohair dress 
goods, therefore, usually are woven with undyed mohair filling and 
dyed cotton warp. Mohair is used for plushes and other upholstery 
fabrics, imitation furs, dress goods, summer suits for men, carriage 
robes, rugs, braids and various other purposes. 

Cashmere wool is obtained from the Cashmere goat, a small, 
elegant animal bred from very ancient times in the Himalayas. The 
term, however, is used generally to include also the wool of the 
Thibet goat. The latter is a larger and stronger animal than the 
genuine Cashmere goat, but produces a wool that is somewhat 
similar in nature, although not so fine and beautiful. It is some- 
times referred to as the Thibet Angora. Cashmere wool is compara- 
tively short in staple (1^4 to 3^ inches) and has visible scales with 
fairly pronounced serrations. Its spinning and felting qualities, 
therefore, are somewhat akin to those of pure merino wool. It is 
used for fine Oriental shawls (Cashmere shawls) and for fine fabrics 
requiring a very soft nap. 

The species of animals known as the auchenia, or camel sheep, 
include the auchenia paco (or alpaca), the auchenia llama and the 
auchenia vicuna, all of which are native to the South American Cor- 
dilleras. The name alpaca is applied commonly to the wool from 
both the auchenia paco and the auchenia llama, although strictly it 
is applicable only to the former. The llama is a wild goat about the 
size of a deer and produces a long, coarse and inelastic wool of a 
white or brown color. The true alpaca is obtained from the domesti- 



92 Wool, the World's Comforter 

cated auchenia paco. It averages about 6 to 8 inches in staple, is 
slightly wavy, has very faint serrations and is rather fine in feel. 
The natural colors are white, red, brown and black. Alpaca is used 
for linings, summer suits and dress goods. Alpaca dress goods have 
a cotton warp and alpaca filling. 

The auchenia vicuna is a wild goat about the size of a sheep. It 
is now very rare, and little true vicuna wool is obtainable. The 
genuine vicuna is a fine, silky wool with a high luster, a beautiful 
reddish brown color and considerable felting quality. Commercially, 
the term vicuna is used to describe a yarn spun from a mixture of 
sheep's wool and cotton or an all-cotton yarn finished in imitation 
of a woolen yarn (often referred to as vigogne yarn). It is used 
also to mean a slightly napped fabric made of soft wool, sometimes 
mixed with cotton, in imitation of a genuine vicuna fabric. 

Camel hair is obtained from the camel or the dromedary. It is a 
very fine, rather curly hair, of great strength and softness, averag- 
ing about 4 inches in staple. Its natural color is yellow, red or 
brown. It is used either alone or mixed with sheep's wool for 
natural color camel cloth, dress goods, shawls, hosiery, blankets, 
carpets, felt hats and other purposes. The camel hair cloth of 
commerce is not always made from genuine camel's hair, as the 
name is used to mean a fine, soft dress fabric, with a glossy and 
slightly hairy finish, made from long staple sheep's wool. 

Various true hairs, such as those of the cow and the horse, are 
used to a limited extent for textile purposes. Cow hair (mostly 
from Siberia) often is employed in the coarser carpets, blankets and 
cheap felted goods. Horsehair cloth is used for upholstery, as stiff- 
ening and underlining for coats and for other purposes. But true 
hair has little value as a textile material, since it lacks the scaly 
surface of wool hair and the fibers consequently will not hold to- 
gether when twisted into yarn. Thus, horsehair must be glued to 
a binding thread of cotton or hemp before it can be spun, and cow 
hair must be mixed with wool. In fact, the hair cloth of commerce 
has usually a warp of cotton, linen or worsted, and a weft consisting 
of single horsehairs (from the mane or tail) which have not been 



Mohair, Alpaca and Other Fibers 93 

twisted into yarn. Sometimes it is made altogether from hard-spun 
cotton yarns treated with a heavy sizing in imitation of real horse- 
hair. 

Many attempts have been made to produce artificially a fiber 
with the characteristic qualities of wool. The most common method 
of doing this is to treat vegetable fibers, such as jute and dha (Sene- 
galese hemp), with certain chemicals which give them the physical 
appearance of the wool fiber. Another method is to dissolve the 
fibers recovered from old rags and to evolve threads from the result- 
ing solution — a process similar to that used for making artificial 
silk. But none of the substitutes for natural wool has any particular 
value and their commercial importance is of the slightest. 



Chapter XII 
Dictionary of Wool Fabrics 

JN the strict sense, it is impossible to define exactly what consti- 
tutes any given woolen or worsted fabric. This is true even of 
the most familiar staples, such as tweeds or serges. The nature 
of even such staples varies greatly according to the kind of raw 
material used, the manner in which the raw materials are blended, 
and the skill, care and equipment employed in the manufacturing 
processes. One mill may make a handsome and durable fabric out 
of low grade stock, while another may make an inferior fabric out of 
comparatively high-grade stock. 

When it comes to fancies, of course, the variety of results is much 
greater. A modern loom is like a chess board, on which the possible 
combinations of moves are almost unlimited. If one adds to these 
variations in weave the innumerable variations obtainable in yarns, 
colors and finishing processes, it can easily be imagined that the 
different results obtainable are beyond count. As a matter of fact, 
every season sees a flood of novelty fabrics. Some of these find a 
limited acceptance, some of them last for a season or two, while 
some of them win a permanent place and eventually become staples. 

Naturally it would be impracticable to compile a comprehensive 
dictionary of such fabrics, and for this reason the following list 
attempts to include only the most familiar staples. Even these, as 
we have remarked, are susceptible of unlimited variations. But 
generally speaking, every staple fabric has certain typical charac- 
teristics, and it is merely these typical characteristics which the 
ensuing descriptions attempt to define. 

Widths and weights are not given, since these, too, may vary a 
good deal in any given fabric. But, as a rule, dress fabrics weigh 
from 8 to 14 ounces to the yard and measure 54 to 56 inches in width. 
Coatings may weigh anywhere from 16 to 36 ounces to the yard. 

ASTRACHAN. A woolen fabric with a curled pile, made in imi- 
tation of astrachan fur. The best grades are woven, while the in- 

[94] 



Dictionary of Wool Fabrics 95 



ferior grades are knitted. The woven fabric is made with a warp 
pile, obtained by running a set of warp threads over wires (see 
PILE FABRICS). The warp yarns used for the pile usually are 
either luster wool or mohair, while the ground warp may be either 
cotton or wool. Woolen yarns, very often spun from mill waste, are 
used for the filling. After it leaves the loom the fabric is crabbed, 
scoured, dyed and finished without pressing. The cheaper grades are 
woven without a pile and get a napped finish. Astrachan is used for 
coats and trimmings. 

BANNOCKBURN. (See TWEED.) 

BEAVER. A soft, heavy woolen fabric napped on the face or on 
both sides. It is made either with a plain weave, using one set of 
hard-twist warp yarns and two sets of filling yarns, or else with a 
double-cloth weave. For the yarns which show on the face, it is 
customary to use a fine wool of good felting quality, such as Aus- 
tralian merino or Ohio fine delaine. These yarns are spun to fine 
counts. After it leaves the loom the fabric is closely felted, wet 
napped on one or both sides, shorn, steamed, dyed, wet brushed, 
shorn again to even the nap, and pressed. It is used for overcoats. 
BEDFORD CORDS. A strong, heavy woolen fabric with a warp- 
wise cord. The warp yarns are either single or two-ply, and are spun 
with a hard twist from fine crossbred wool of long staple. The 
fabric may be dyed either in the yarn or the piece. It is finished by 
being fulled, steam brushed, closely shorn and pressed. It is used 
mostly for sports skirts and costumes. 

BROADCLOTH. There are so many different qualities and 
weights of this fabric that it is difficult to define. Generally it may 
be described as a fine, full-bodied woolen cloth with a very smooth 
finish. Sometimes it is made with a worsted warp. The filling for 
the better qualities is spun from fine wool of good felting property, 
such as Ohio delaine or Australian merino, while for the medium 
qualities merino noils or fine shoddy may be used. Since the fabric 
is thoroughly fulled an inferior cloth of deceptively good appear- 
ance may be made with low grade wool or shoddy. Broadcloth is 
plain woven, and after leaving the loom it is well fulled, napped, 



96 Wool, the World's Comforter 

closely shorn, steamed, pressed and dyed. Subsequently it is wet 
brushed, shorn again, and again steamed and pressed. It is used 
for suits and coats. 

CASSIMERE. A twilled woolen or worsted fabric made in a 
variety of weights, qualities and designs. Many different grades of 
wool, waste and shoddy are used in its composition. As a rule it is 
closely woven from hard-spun yarns and receives what is known as 
a clear finish, or, in other words, a finish which does not obscure 
the weave. This consists of a light, dry napping and a close shear- 
ing. Subsequently, the fabric is brushed, sprayed and heavily 
pressed. It is used mostly for men's suits. 

CHEVIOT. A rough, coarse, twilled woolen fabric, originally 
made from the coarse, curly wool of the Cheviot sheep, whence it 
gets its name. Nowadays, it is made usually from crossbred wool, 
and in the lower grades it is likely to be heavily adulterated with 
cotton, shoddy and flocks. As a rule it is made with warp and 
filling yarns of contrasting colors, and novelty yarns (q. v.) are used 
sometimes to produce special effects. The yarns are spun from wool 
dyed in the raw stock. Cheviot is closely fulled and is finished with 
a rather thick, curly nap. It is lightly sheared to even the nap and 
subsequently is steamed. It is used for suits, coats and dresses. 

CHINCHILLA. A soft, heavy woolen fabric with a curled pile. 
It is loosely woven, generally as a double cloth; but sometimes as a 
three-ply cloth. As a rule, it is felted and wet napped, but some 
fine chinchillas are made with a long pile formed by floats of filling 
thread, and are not felted. The distinguishing feature of chinchilla 
is the close curl given to the pile in the finishing process. This is 
done by means of a special machine. In this machine the fabric is 
pressed between two flat surfaces, of which the lower one is sta- 
tionary while the upper one moves with a rotary motion, rubbing the 
pile into little curly nubs. Chinchillas seldom are shorn or pressed, 
although a slight shearing may be necessary sometimes to even the 
pile. They are made usually in solid colors, or with fancy backs 
from stock-dyed wool. They are used for overcoatings. 

CLAY WORSTEDS. (See WORSTEDS.) 



Dictionary of Wool Fabrics 97 

COVERT CLOTH. This name commonly is applied to a class of 
woolen fabrics which are properly described as Venetians (see 
VENETIAN). The genuine covert cloth is made with a twill weave 
from ply yarns of mixed colors. The yarns are mule-spun from dyed 
wool of fine quality, and two yarns of different colors are twisted 
together for the warp, while two-ply or single yarns of one color are 
used for the filling. The color of the filling yarns corresponds, as a 
rule, to the darker color of the mixed warp yarns. Covert cloth 
receives a clear finish. It is lightly fulled and napped, closely 
sheared, brushed, sprayed and pressed. It is used for coats and 
dresses — chiefly sports costumes. 

CREPE. A soft, drapy fabric with a crinkled surface. As a rule 
the crepe effect is produced by using yarns with an extra twist, 
which makes them crumple up when they are unwound off the bob- 
bins in the weaving. Crepe yarns have twice or three times the 
amount of twist given to yarns for other fabrics. Sometimes the 
crepe yarns are given both a regular and reverse twist. Occasion- 
ally the crepe effect is produced by means of a fancy twill weave. 
Crepes are made in a variety of weights and qualities, and with either 
woolen or worsted yarns. After coming from the loom they are 
crabbed, piece-dyed, brushed, sheared and pressed. Crepe is a dress 
fabric. 

DUVETYN. A soft, twilled fabric with a fine, silky nap. It is 
made, as a rule, with single or two-ply worsted yarns for warp and 
mixed wool and waste silk or tussah yarns for filling. Some duve- 
tyns have an all-woolen filling, while some are made entirely of silk. 
The latter are properly described as all-silk duvetyns. The regular 
duvetyn has a good, long-staple crossbred wool for warp and a fine, 
soft, merino wool mixed with waste silk for filling. It is stock-dyed. 
After being fulled it is wet napped, wet brushed, shorn to even the 
nap, steamed, tentered, dried and brushed. It is used for coats and 
dresses. 

EPONGE. A soft, spongy cloth, made with novelty yarns of 
coarse sizes. (See NOVELTY YARNS.) As a rule it has either a 
novelty yarn warp and plain filling or a plain warp and novelty 



98 Wool, the World's Comforter 

yarn filling. It is woven with a plain weave, and may be either stock- 
or piece-dyed. It receives practically no finishing, except for a 
slight shearing. Eponge is used for dresses, trimming and drapery. 

See Ratine. 

FRIEZE. A coarse, heavy, harsh-feeling woolen fabric with an 
irregular nap. The name was applied originally to a rough fabric 
made in Friesland, and later came to be identified with an overcoat- 
ing fabric made in Ireland from coarse native wool. Ordinarily, 
frieze is made from coarse wool, wool waste and shoddy. The lower 
grades contain a very large percentage of shoddy. It is dyed in the 
stock, woven with a plain or twill weave, well fulled, napped, sheared 
and pressed. It is used for overcoats. 

GABARDINE. A strong worsted fabric made with a twill weave, 
and showing fine, diagonal cords. The better grades have a hard- 
spun two-ply warp and a coarser two-ply filling, while the lower 
grades have a two-ply warp and coarse single filling. As a rule, it 
is very closely woven, showing about twice as many warp yarns 
as filling yarns to the inch. After coming from the loom it is 
scoured, crabbed, dyed, brushed, sheared, brushed again, sprayed 
and pressed. Gabardine is used for suits and dresses, and also, to 
a large extent, for raincoats. For the latter purpose the fabric must 
be waterproofed. There are many different processes for water- 
proofing fabrics, most of which are patented and confined to indi- 
vidual manufacturers. Among the substances used are rubber, wax, 
oils, varnishes, acids, oxides and metallic salts. 

HOMESPUN. The original homespun, as the name implies, was 
made from yarns spun on the old spinning wheel. Such yarns were 
rough and irregular, and the fabric woven from them had, conse- 
quently, a rough, nubby appearance. The homespun familiar to 
commerce is an imitation of the original article. The yarns are spun 
into coarse sizes from medium-grade wool of fairly long staple, 
which is dyed in the stock and blended to produce mixed color 
effects in the yarn. Sometimes camel's hair tops, mohair or alpaca 
are blended in with the wool. The weave may be either plain or 
twill. After leaving the loom, the fabric is fulled, washed, dried and 



Dictionary of Wool Fabrics 101 



brushed, lightly sheared, steamed and pressed. Homespun is used 
for suits and dresses. 

KERSEY. A strong, smooth fabric somewhat similar to broad- 
cloth, except that it is much heavier. Originally, in fact, the name 
described simply an inferior grade of broadcloth. The filling yarns 
in kerseys are spun usually from fine wool of good felting quality, 
merino noils or fine shoddy being most often used. The fabric is 
woven, as a rule, with a twill weave, and often it is woven as a 
double cloth. It is very thoroughly fulled, wet napped, sheared, 
brushed and dyed. Then it is dried, brushed again, steamed, sheared 
again, brushed once more, sprayed and pressed. It may receive 
either a dull or a lustrous finish, the latter being obtained by a heavy, 
hot pressing. Like all closely fulled fabrics kersey may contain a 
large proportion of low grade shoddy and flocks. It is used mostly 
for coats. 

MACKINAW. A soft, heavy woolen cloth, usually napped on 
both sides and made up in fancy plaids in high colors. The name 
was applied originally to the heavy, colored blankets purchased by 
the Indians of the Great Lakes region from Fort Mackinaw, which 
was then the most remote trading post in that territory. Later the 
cloth was used for coats by lumbermen and hunters in Michigan, and 
eventually it became generally popular for winter sports wear. It 
comes in many different qualities. Usually it is made altogether 
from coarse wool or a mixture of coarse wool and shoddy. Sometimes 
it is made with a cotton warp and a shoddy or wool waste filling. The 
yarns used are soft and heavy. It is thoroughly fulled, scoured, 
napped on both sides and sometimes waterproofed. When it is woven 
as a double cloth — as is frequently the case — it receives only a slight 
fulling. 

MELTON. A strong, heavy, semi-finished woolen fabric, used 
chiefly for overcoats. The stock used for making meltons, as a rule, 
is a mixture of medium-staple crossbred wool and short-staple fine 
wool or fine merino noils. The heavy weights are woven usually 
with a double warp, while the lighter weights sometimes have a cot- 



102 Wool, the World's Comforter 

ton warp. It is heavily fulled, napped on the face and closely shorn 
to show the texture. 

MONTAGNAC. A soft, fleecy fabric with a thick, curly nap. 
It is made with a twill weave from fine, soft wool. After leaving the 
loom it is fulled, washed, napped, cropped to even the nap, and dried. 
Then it is put through a whipping machine, which makes the nap 
stand up straight. Subsequently it goes through a machine which 
wets the nap without dampening the cloth, and is dried by hot air, 
which causes the nap to curl back. It is finished without shearing 
or pressing. Montagnac is used for overcoats. 

MOUSSELINE DE LAINE. A fine, light, plain-woven worsted 
fabric of open texture. The name is French for wool muslin. It 
was originated by a man named Jourdain at Troixvilles, France, in 
1826. It is made with fine, clear worsted yarns or with a cotton 
warp and fine worsted filling. It receives a clear worsted finish and 
is either printed or dyed. It is a dress fabric. 

NOVELTY YARN FABRICS. There is a great variety of fancy 
fabrics made altogether or in part with novelty yarns, and frequently 
novelty yarns are used to produce nubs and spotted color effects 
on certain staple fabrics, such as cheviots. These yarns are made 
in a number of ways. Generally they are made by twisting two or 
more yarns into one. For instance, a coarse yarn may be twisted 
with a fine yarn or a colored yarn with one or more bleached yarns. 
The coarse yarn or the colored yarn may be delivered at intermittent 
speed to the spindles, with the result that it forms small loops which 
appear as coarse or colored nubs in the finished fabric. Sometimes 
the same effect is produced by using worsted filling yarns with a 
spiral twist, which curl up into loops or nubs when the fabric is 
fulled. Imitations of novelty yarns are produced also by methods 
of carding and spinning which result in coarse uneven woolen yarns. 
Frequently nubs are made from short, curly wools in the carding 
process, and are subsequently dyed, mixed with raw stock and spun 
into nubby yarns. The genuine novelty yarns, as a rule, are either 
all worsted or mixed worsted and cotton. Typical examples of nov- 
elty yarn fabrics are eponge and ratine. Imitations of novelty yarn 



Dictionary of Wool Fabrics 103 

effects are sometimes obtained by means of the terry weave (see 
PILE FABRICS). 

OUTING FLANNEL. A soft, twilled, slightly napped fabric 
used for outing clothes. It is made from fine-spun woolen yarns or 
from mixed cotton and woolen yarns. It is stock-dyed, twill-woven, 
fulled, washed, dried, brushed up to raise a slight nap, sheared and 
pressed. The name is often applied to a cotton flannelette with the 
same surface characteristics. 

PILE FABRICS. This name is used to designate a large class 
of fabrics in which a certain proportion of the yarns or fibers are 
raised from the body of the cloth so as to produce a napped or furry 
surface. When this is done by a napping machine in the finishing 
process the fabric usually is known as a napped fabric although 
sometimes, as in the case of velours, it is included under the heading 
of pile fabrics. Strictly speaking a pile fabric is one in which 
the pile effect is obtained in the weaving process. There are a 
number of different ways in which this is done. A common way is 
by means of a variation in the twill weave, known as the terry 
motion (from the French tirer, meaning to draw or pull). Two sets 
of warp threads are used, one of which is very slack. As the filling 
threads are beaten up by the reed in the weaving they draw the slack 
warp threads into loops. Sometimes the same result is obtained 
by inserting wires weft-wise in the cloth, over which the warp threads 
pass in the weaving, leaving loops when the wires are withdrawn. 
Fabrics produced by either of these methods are known as warp- 
pile fabrics. When the loops are left uncut the fabric is known as 
a loop-pile fabric. When they are cut the fabric is known as a cut- 
pile fabric. Cut-pile fabrics are made also by using an extra set of 
filling threads which are not carried all the way across the cloth, 
like the regular filling threads, but are floated to the surface at 
intervals and subsequently sheared to even the pile. This is known 
as a weft-pile. Another method of making a pile fabric is by means 
of the double-cloth weave. By this method two pieces are woven at 
the same time, face to face, and subsequently cut apart by a knife. 
The pile is formed by the interlacing of threads between the two 



104 Wool, the World's Comforter 

cloths. Imitations of novelty yarn fabrics, such as eponge and 
ratine (q. v.) sometimes are made by means of the terry motion, 
above mentioned, the loops being left uncut. 

POPLIN. A strong, durable fabric with fine cross-ribs, made 
originally with an organzine warp and woolen filling, but now made 
of all worsted, silk and worsted, or cotton and worsted. The average 
poplin is made with worsted yarns spun on the French system from 
medium grade crossbred wool. The rib is produced by using a 
larger size yarn for the filling than for the warp. All-wool poplins 
are piece-dyed; but silk or cotton-mixed poplins are yarn-dyed. The 
goods are not felted, but are scoured, crabbed, brushed, sheared, 
sprayed and pressed, resulting in a clear, somewhat lustrous finish. 

PRUNELLA. A strong, warp-face fabric made in a satin weave, 
usually with a worsted face and cotton back. As a rule it comes 
in black and white stripes. The worsted yarns are spun from a 
fairly coarse, long-staple, crossbred wool of y 2 -blood or lower. 
After being woven it is scoured, crabbed, dyed, dried, brushed, 
sheared, sprayed and pressed. It is used chiefly for skirts and shoe 
tops. 

RATINE. A rough, spongy cloth similar to eponge (q. v.). The 
name describes an effect rather than a fabric. The effect is obtained 
either by the use of novelty yarns (q. v.) or by means of the terry 
weave (see PILE FABRICS). Ratine fabrics are used chiefly for 
dresses and coatings. 

SERGE. The name was applied originally to a twilled worsted 
fabric made from medium-count, 2-ply yarns (about 32's) with a 
very distinct twill and a somewhat harsh feel. Nowadays the name 
covers almost every variety of clear-finished twilled worsteds, espe- 
cially piece-dyes in navy and black. Usually it is made with a 2-ply 
warp and single filling, while the best grades are made with 2-ply 
yarns in both warp and filling. The lower grades are made with 
single warp and filling. All kinds of raw stock are used in serges, 
from low crossbred wool in the cheaper grades to fine Australian 
merino in the best grades. There also is a large production of 
cotton-warp serges. Serge is not fulled after weaving, but is 



Dictionary of Wool Fabrics 105 

crabbed, dyed, closely sheared, sprayed and pressed. It is used for 
suits and dresses. Storm serge is a name applied to a light serge 
(about 7 ounces to the yard), made with single yarns in warp and 
filling, and used for women's coats. 

TRICOTINE. Originally this name was applied to a fairly fine- 
gauge knitted fabric. Nowadays it is used to describe a fine twilled 
worsted fabric, with a warp-wise rib effect, obtained by groupings of 
two single ends with a distinct space between each group. It is 
made with single yarns in warp and filling. 

TWEED. A somewhat rough woolen fabric similar to cheviot 
(q. v.). It originated' in Scotland, where it was made from homespun 
yarns of coarse cheviot wool. Later the Scottish tweed makers be- 
gan to copy the colors of the heather, bracken and grasses on the 
moors, and produced the heather mixtures which are characteristic 
of Scotch tweeds. This range of colors was enlarged by Sir John 
Lovat, who copied the blends of colors in the rocks of the Highlands 
during the hunting season (in the fall), and originated the famous 
Lovat shades. Tweeds are made, as a rule, from fairly coarse, 
medium-grade wools (usually about ^-blood grade), and are 
stock-dyed. Some qualities are made from Saxony or fine Australian 
merino. They are woven either in a plain or twill weave, with 2-ply 
warp and heavy single filling or 2-ply yarns in both warp and filling. 
In the so-called Bannockburn tweeds the ply yarns contain two single 
yarns of different colors. Most tweeds are woven with checks, twills 
or herringbone patterns. The goods are slightly fulled after weav- 
ing, and subsequently are scoured, dried, steam-brushed, lightly 
shorn and pressed. Tweed is used for dresses, suits and coats. 

VELOURS. A variety of woolen fabrics, all of which are char- 
acterized by a soft, velvety nap. They are included frequently under 
the heading of pile fabrics, although strictly they are napped fabrics. 
They are made, as a rule, from medium-staple fine wool of good 
felting quality. They are stock-dyed and plain-woven. Subsequently 
they are well fulled, napped (usually with a teasel gig), wet-brushed, 
dried, brushed, steamed, sheared, brushed again, sprayed and pressed. 
They are used for coats, suits and dresses. 



106 Wool, the World's Comforter 

VENETIAN. A light, strong woolen fabric with a fine, diagonal 
twill. It is made from various grades of wool and shoddy, with single 
yarns in warp and filling. Sometimes the yarns are spun from 
mixed colored stock and sometimes the fabric is piece-dyed in solid 
colors, usually black. Mixed-colored Venetians frequently are sold as 
coverts (q. v.), but the genuine covert cloth is woven with 2-ply 
yarns. Venetians are fulled and slightly napped, and may be given 
either a clear or a face finish. Used mostly for coats and skirts. 

WHIPCORD. A strong worsted fabric with round, diagonal ribs 
on the face. It is made, as a rule, from coarse wool of about %- 
blood, with a 2-ply warp yarn which is floated over a number of 
single filling yarns, thus forming the raised ribs. Sometimes these 
warp yarns are of a different color from the foundation yarns, and 
the ribs consequently differ in color from the body of the cloth. 
Usually, however, the cloth is yarn- or piece-dyed in solid colors. 
It is finished with a polishing machine, which gives it a smooth 
gloss, and subsequently is sheared and pressed. It is a dress fabric. 

WOOL CRASH. A light, coarse, plain-woven woolen fabric made 
in imitation of linen crash. It is woven with rough, hard-twisted 
yarns spun from low-grade wool. Usually it is stock-dyed in mixed 
colors, but frequently it is piece-dyed. It receives very little fulling, 
and is finished by shearing and pressing. Wool crash is used mostly 
for summer suits. 

WORSTED. Any fabric made from worsted yarns. The dis- 
tinguishing feature of worsted yarns is that they are spun from 
combed wool, usually long-staple wool and receive a good deal of 
drawing before they are twisted. Most worsted yarns are spun on 
a cap frame or a ring frame machine, and are smooth, even and 
firm. Sometimes they are spun on a mule frame, which produces 
softer and more spongy yarns than the cap or ring frames. Mule- 
spun worsted yarns are commonly described as French-spun or spun 
on the French system. Worsteds differ from woolens in having a 
clear finish and a somewhat harder and stiffer feel. They are not 
fulled, like woolens, but are finished by being crabbed, closely 
sheared, sprayed and pressed. Sometimes they are very lightly 



Dictionary of Wool Fabrics 107 

sheared, so as to leave a slight nap, and receive comparatively little 
pressing. Such fabrics are known as unfinished worsteds. Clay- 
worsteds are made from high-grade stock spun into rather soft- 
twisted yarns and woven with a 6-harness twill weave, producing a 
very distinct round rib effect. They receive a clear finish. 

ZIBELINE. A thick woolen fabric with a long, straight, flat- 
tened-down nap and a high luster. It is made with a coarse, heavy 
yarn, spun usually from a mixture of wool and mohair. Frequently 
it is woven as a double cloth, with a backing of worsted or cotton. 
It is fulled, scoured, wet-napped, brushed, steamed, dyed, brushed 
again and pressed. It is used for coats. 



